Ballad of an Eternity
by PieroXVII17
Summary: The Farron sisters are gone, and the world is plunged into chaos. Noel and Hope both are left torn apart after these recent events. Beating back their grief, they resolve to fix things, and undo the eternal paradox. Weekly updates every Wednesday. NOT YAOI. Rated T for minor violence, language and possible mature themes. Don't forget to review!
1. Chapter 1: A Ruined World

**I've wanted to do a FFXIII story for a while, and have finally gotten around to it! This is my sequel to FFXIII-2 and hopefully you all enjoy it! I own the plot. Everything else belongs to Square! Remember, if you like what you read, don't hesitate to review or follow the story!**

* * *

"I... k-killed the goddess?" Hands trembling and eyes wide, Noel could barely stand or speak.

Hope Estheim quietly stood there, equally distressed. Neither of the two men could fathom the events that had unfolded just moments ago. Serah had been a seeress, just like the many Yeuls before her. Her life was extinguished by a vision of the future, a new future created by the efforts of her and Noel. However, looking around, things were bleak.

The sky grew black. It wasn't just darkness, an ominous crest appeared in the sky, with a black mist pouring from it. The mist consumed everything in its path.

"_The Heart of Chaos beats in my chest-a manifestation of Etro. Should this heart stop beating, the goddess will die once again. When the goddess dies, the chaos of Valhalla is unleashed. The chaos has the power to warp the timeline and destroy the past_." Caius's words rang in Noel's ears.

Off in the distance, a large structure appeared. The building looked similar to a tower. Bells chimed eerily throughout the chaos infected landscape.

"Sazh, fly us out of here!" The academy director ordered.

_What have I done?_

Noel was frantic now. Caius wasn't bluffing. The words he spoke were no less true than the severity of their situation. Pounding the airship he and Hope stood upon, he screamed.

"Are you happy now? You've destroyed it all. You've robbed humanity of its past and future. Damn you Caius!"

"Noel, calm down. This has me shaken as well but we need to be rational." Hope spoke, but he couldn't hold back a crack in his voice. It was obvious that he was far more than shaken.

"Hope.. Our journey was for nothing. We didn't save the future, and I lost Serah! I couldn't protect her, I failed! I killed the man who raised me, and taught me everything I know, as well as the Goddess herself! This is all my fault! You expect me to remain calm?" He had grabbed Hope by his tie and was holding him up in a firm grasp. He was silent.

"Look out boys, we got some baddies coming in hot!" The voice of Sazh could be heard over the intercom. Sure enough, Noel and Hope could see several wyverns approaching their airship, obviously ready to attack the airborne vehicle. The beasts were huge, and their numbers reached at least 7. Their scales were an onyx color, nearly as black as the chaos around them.

As they neared the ship, the duo pulled out their weapons. "Can you fight?" Hope asked the brunette male. He received no response, instead watching as Noel dived head first into the fray with his swords slicing in seemingly every direction.

Noel lost himself in the confrontation. Each swing of his weapons was laced with pure emotion. Anger, Fear, Sorrow, Grief and the most powerful one he had felt, guilt.

Leaping up, he began to spiral in midair. As his body twisted and turned, so did his blades. Every blow was fatal. One decapitating a wyvern while another rendered one incapable of flight. Switching roles, Noel infused each strike with magical elements. Flame, Wind, Water, or even Ice. He used every element he knew, purposefully choosing to torment the beasts by diversifying the effects of his deadly assault.

In the meantime, Hope was also fending off the beasts, albeit nowhere near as viciously as his hunter companion. He would fling his boomerang at his target, and control it's flight path as he flung several ruin spells at other foes. This strategy made for effective multi-tasking.

In a mere matter of minutes, the creatures were no more.

"Woo, you saved our tail. I'll get us back to Academia ASAP. You two just hang on and enjoy the ride!"

That was Sazh for you, ever the optimist. A man wise beyond his years, he somehow knew the best ways to make light of a tough situation. Even one so taxing as this.

The ship sped off, and on the gloomy horizon Noel and Hope could make out the Academy HQ in Academia. Finally coming inside, Noel gently laid Serah's body on the bench to his left as Hope went to the bridge to speak to Sazh, setting Mog's unconscious body in a cozy looking basket. Noel grabbed a pillow, and rested her head upon it, making sure to give luxury to the departed Farron.

Taking a seat next to her body, he ran his fingers through the pink strands which decorated her head. He sat there for a while, not saying a word. Eventually, his eyes grew heavy, and he gave into sleep.

* * *

_They have seen history. They have seen its possibilities. They have seen all of the endings. But they must know that the goddess Etro is already dead. Her end is final. No man, woman, or god can bring her back now. Ignorant and blind to their true mission, they did exactly as I wanted. At the end of the journey to save the world, they stilled the goddess's power._

Caius sat upon Etro's throne in the Void Beyond, legs crossed. He rested his on one hand, while holding his sword Ragnarok in the other. Raising himself from the holy perch he sat atop, he slowly moved forward until his feet were in contact with the platform beneath him. The guardian stepped forward, lifting his blade into the air.

"Yeul, let us begin. We are freed from our eternal curse. Embrace the new world…The Goddess is dead!"

He plunges Ragnarok into the ground. Chaos begins seeping from where the blade met the floor, engulfing the purple haired immortal.

* * *

The airship landed quietly, not even sounding so much as a thud when it landed on the ground below. A ramp descended, and Director Estheim appeared from inside the vehicle. The peace was short lived, if there was any peace to begin with. He was instantly engulfed by a crowd of panicking members of the Academy, each raving about how dangerous things currently were, or how the levels of the paradox were out of control. It was as if they all assumed Hope hadn't seen any of it for himself.

Noel trailed behind, wearing an expression darker than the sky itself. He carried Serah's corpse and was followed by a now conscious Mog.

"Everyone, as you all have already observed, much has happened in the last hour and a half. We're meeting in the grand hall in two hours. I want everyone to organize all data regarding the paradox and the current state of Bhunivelze and be prepared to present it later. That is all." Hope cooly rattled off their plan and what his demands were. As head of the academy, being the one to act calm in a time of crisis was an acquired skill of his. It was something he learned on his journey as a l'cie, and something that he'd mastered over the time he spent growing up. Indeed, Hope truly lived up to his namesake.

Academy members all stepped aside, granting Hope and Noel passage into the academy HQ. The duo entered the building, where then Hope took the lead and escorted them to his private quarters.

The room was quaint. Surprisingly so, since they were nearly half a millennia in the future from the time Hope hailed from. The whole space was styled similarly to how Noel had seen some homes down at New Bodhum back in 3AF. Probably to help in the case of future shock.

Each of them pulled out a chair. Hope eased himself into the seat while Noel laid Serah onto Hope's bed.

"Noel, what exactly happened in there?"

Noel, cleared his throat. Before speaking, he inhaled deeply. "After we finished our last battle with Caius, we found ourselves on the shore of Valhalla again. He kept asking, almost begging for me to kill him. I refused of course. Then, in an effort to make me kill him, he went for Serah. Without thinking, I reacted by blocking his attack and countering with my own. My blade nearly pierced his heart. I was able to regain control of myself at the very last moment. He grabbed my sword, my hand still on the blade, and impaled himself with it." Noel's final words came out as a nearly inaudible whisper.

"I see... is that all?" Hope asked innocently.

"After he died, the gates all began to get called back to Valhalla. We went through the gate that would take us to this Era, and then that's when things all went horribly wrong. Serah had a vision of the future, the vision that ending up taking her life. You showed up shortly after, and when the chaos came, I remembered the words Caius spoke."

"What is it he said?"

"He told me that when he died, the goddess would die again. That the chaos of Valhalla would be unleashed and that I would have to bear the burden of the eternal paradox. I didn't understand how much that actually meant until everything started taking a turn for the worst. Hope, the state of the world is my fault. If only I hadn't stabbed Caius, maybe the world would be alright, and Serah would be ali-"

"You don't know that. You don't know any of that. You had no way of knowing you guys were playing into his hands the whole time, okay Noel?"

"Things can still be fixed, Kupo." Mog spoke, sounding hopeful.

Noel and Hope both were puzzled. "How can you be certain?" The silverette asked.

"The way things are, time is at a standstill. The future is no more, just as things are in Valhalla, Kupo. Serah saw a vision of the future before she died, so that means there has to be a way to fix things Kupo!"

Hope considered the notion carefully, wrapping his head around what Mog was getting at.

"I see what you're saying Mog. If there was no longer a future for us, Serah would never have had a vision of the future, right?" Noel's voice grew more powerful, sounding more like his usual self. Perhaps not everything was lost after all.

"Exactly, Kupo." Mog floated around the Hope's quarters, his bobble and bubbly personality the brightest things in the room.

"Serah... Your death won't be a vain one, I promise." Noel spoke firmly, his voice resolute.

"Noel, you should get some sleep, you've had it the toughest out of anyone. I'll bring Serah to the room I had set aside for her. My meeting is in a little while, and once that's finished, I'll begin the preparations for her funeral."

"Right, thanks Hope. Make sure to keep me updated, I want in on anything the academy plans." Noel stood, and made his way to the door stopping just before he turned te knob. "Mog, I think it's best you tag along with Hope, they might want an eyewitness testimony of what went down at Valhalla."

"Leave it to me Kupo!"

"I'll see you in a few hours Noel. Your room is two doors down on the left."

Exiting the directors room, the hunter turned left, walking down the quiet hallway as his footsteps resonated throughout the corridor. Stopping at the second door, he turned the knob and let himself in.

The place was about the same as Hope's room. They might have made accommodations for him, but then it might be better that they didn't. Nobody knew what his time was like after all, and while he would never trade away the few memories he could recall from his days in his own time, he could do without the pain of how things were.

Locking his door behind him, he headed straight for the bed, and sprawled out on it.

_Damn, I'm not going to get any sleep like this. I know Hope means well, but it's just too much to ask._

As he thought, Noel's pouch tumbled over, with one of his fragments falling to the floor.

He leaned over and grabbed the crystal. He examined it, and then a thought came to mind.

"Wait a minute... These fragments all had some sort of message within them!."

Noel shot out of his bed. He grabbed his pouch, and turned it upside down, dumping all one hundred and sixty fragments that he and Serah had collected onto the bed.

"Looks like I'll be here a while.. But it's worth a shot."

Noel hurriedly grabbed the nearest fragment, and allowed the information stored within to freely floon into his mind. His jaw dropped, and a gasp escaped his throat. He put the fragment aside, and reached for the next. The answer was in there somewhere.

He would find the key. He had to.


	2. Chapter 2 : Tearful Goodbye

**Hurray for chapter 2! I think I'm gonna make Wednesday my official update days, so be sure to check back weekly! And for anyone reading my other story, Melody of the Afterlife, I won't be updating today, but rather next week instead. Don't think I've forgotten about you though! :D**

**Remember, I own nothing but the plot, Square-Enix owns everything else. Don't forget to review if you like what you see! :D**

* * *

"So, now that we're all here, why don't we go over everything we know?" Hope sat in his chair, meeting with at least a dozen other scientists and researchers from the Academy.

"Well Director, we have news regarding the origin of the paradox affecting our world. Our scans have revealed that the epicenter of the anomaly seems to be Bhunivelze." The scientist finished his statement as he pushed up his glasses.

"I see, have you discerned the cause behind this yet?"

Another person stood, straightening out the papers laid before her as she spoke. "Unfortunately our analysis hasn't given us any information on how or why this all happened. We were actually hoping for the time travelers to tell us what happened after they entered the spacetime distortion."

Hope leaned back into his chair, and folded his hands. His brow quivered at the mention of his friends. He forgot that nobody knew about Serah's death. "I'm afraid we can't speak to them at the moment, but I do have someone here who can help." As if on cue, Mog appeared seemingly from thin air.

"Mog the moogle, at your service, kupo!"

There was a collective sigh amongst the group, minus Hope of course. None of them really took Mog seriously.

"He may not look like much, but I'm sure he can answer many of our questions. Mog, if you will."

"Righto!" His wings flapped as he began to recount the story of Serah and Noel's final battle with Caius.

* * *

"Finally, done." Noel set down a fragment. The last of all the fragments that he had searched through. He flopped onto the bed, his mind exhausted from processing all of the information in the fragments. Most of it was nonsense or completely irrelevant stuff. Some fragments had messages from close friends, but there were a few that Noel had set aside. Thirteen of them to be exact.

"You'd think with a hundred and sixty stone filled with information, I would find a few more than only thirteen with usable knowledge.." He sighed.

Looking at the clock, he noticed roughly 2 hours had gone by. Should have gone by anyways, he could no longer be sure because of the paradox that afflicted the world though. "Hm, Hope should be back soon. I'll save him the time, and take these with me."

Noel packed up the 13 fragments and left his room, slinging the pouch with the space time distortions inside over his arm.

Stepping outside his room Noel quickly realized he had no idea where the conference room would be. He saw a map of the building out of the corner of his eye, but it did him no good. The color coding system and strange usage of numbers and letters were inscrutable to the young hunter. When all hope was lost, Hope literally walked down the hallway, with Mog in tow.

"Oh, hey Noel. How was the nap?"

"Yea.. about that Hope. I didn't, no, I couldn't sleep. Instead I went through these." He slung the satchel with the fragments off his shoulder, and opened the bag wide for Hope to peer inside.

"These are the fragments you and Serah collected right? What about them?" He asked, with a puzzled expression.

"Well technically, these are only some of the fragments. Thirteen of a hundred-sixty to be exact. These things are like little bits of knowledge. Each fragment has a story or even the thoughts of a person within that fragment." Noel was elated.

"How do we access the information?"

"Like this." Noel reached inside, grasping the first fragment he could find and pulling it out. He thrust the crystal into Hope's hands.

Information loosed itself into the Director's mind. It was as if someone else was speaking within his head.

_"Fragments are little nuggets of information, like frozen shards of time. You just have to touch them to fill your head with what's inside, kupo._

_You see, they are made of the same crystal that's inside the oracle drive. That's how they hold memories and stories and so much more**."**_

_These fragments were definitely something worth looking into._

"It sounded like our favorite little moogle made that one." Hope chuckled and Mog grew red. "Got any more Noel?" He grew hungry for the information stored within these objects, fueled by the hope that perhaps their answers lay within them.

The teen smiled "Right here."

"Right, to my room then. I'd like to analyze these for myself if you don't mind.

The pair entered his room, and Noel laid out the fragments neatly on Hope's desk.

"So for the most part, what does all of this stuff say?" Hope shut the door behind them and turned to the younger male.

"Well, there doesn't seem to be any order to the information. Most of it is bits and pieces about Etro, Caius, and the fragments themselves. By the way, anything interesting happen at that meeting?"

"Well I told the scientists what happened to us, kupo. It took them a while to get them to understand some of the things that happened but it went pretty well, kupo!" Mog's reply was as cheery as ever.

"They're about as clueless as we are, if not more so. So far we know that Bhunivelze is the center of this paradoxical activity."

"Alright. It's a start at least. Here Hope." Noel handed the director a fragment. Like before, words filled the man's mind. His thoughts were consumed by the message within the fragment.

_"Hark, and hear the secret words of the farseers._

_Only those blessed with chaos by the goddess may travel the portals of time. Even the fal'cie, with all their great power, could not enchant the blessed and make them turn against the goddess. The goddess's protection is nearly absolute."_

"This one is interesting." Hope pondered what he just heard. The fragment's words seems easy enough to interpret.

"Yea, that one's called the Book of Avalon I think. It doesnt exactly tell us much we don't already know, but I thought it would interest you regardless." The brunette male took the fragment back from his friend, once again allowing it to disappear into his pouch.

"This does explain why you and Serah were the only ones able to traverse history. You were chosen by Etro for that very purpose. It could be useful, that protection of yours."

"You're more right about that than you know. When we visited the alternate Academia in 400AF, it saved us from being turned Cie'th by the rogue proto-fal'cie. If it weren't for Etro's blessing we probably wouldn't have ever seen you again."

Hope was about to reply, when there was a knock at his door. He looked through the peephole, and smiled before allowing the person in. "Well hello, Sazh."

"Hey there kids. Just came to check up on the two of you. Well, sorta anyways. With all of the craziness going on, I just wanted a sense of familiarity." The pilot spoke honestly, sounding like the same Sazh that Hope knew.

"It's no problem Sazh. Actually, there was something we needed to talk about anyways, and it's good that you're here."

"Alright then, well let's talk." Sazh took a seat and looked at Hope expectantly. Noel stood with Mog at his side, both confused at what the director was talking about.

Hope's emerald green eyes became glassy, and his nostrils flared. "Of course. However, before we continue, there's something I'd like to ask. You own a suit, right?"

* * *

The sky was dark, and the chaos was ubiquitous. The crowd was blacker than the sky itself, even in its devoid state. Each person donned a black outfit of a sort. The people stood, all arranged in lines along their seats. The whole scene was silent, save for two musicians playing a sad, yet mellifluous melody with their violin and piano. Hope stood near an altar, appearing shaky and crestfallen.

Sazh and Noel stood not to far away from the director, with Mog floating lazily by their side. In the distance, the young hunter could see a group of men carrying a black box towards them. They approached slowly, as the crowd all watched with anticipation.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the box finally reached the stand before Director Estheim.

Mustering the strength he had, Hope began to speak. "Everyone. We gather her this morning to celebrate the life of a fallen comrade, fellow human, and irreplaceable family member. She travelled throughout history, risking her life to give us all a future to live in. In the end, her life was lost to her. While none of you may know who Serah Farron is personally, I can say without a doubt that not a single soul that stands before me right now remains unaffected by the bravery of this woman. It was the ideals of Serah and Noel that drove the Academy to become what it is now. They gave us the ability to believe in tomorrow, and to shape it to the tomorrow that we all wished to see." The last few sentences choked their way out of Hope's mouth. "I have two people that would like to say a few words for Serah. Sazh, if you will."

Sazh advanced toward the place where Hope stood moments prior. Drawing in his breath, he readied his speech. "I regret that I never knew Serah all that much. One person I did know, was her older sis. Five hundred years ago, we were cursed as L'cie and given a terrible focus, a focus telling us to bring Cocoon down to the ground. Serah herself was also a L'cie, and she inspired the six of us. She let us see that there was another way! She gave us a drive to save cocoon, and to protect it, with her last words before turning into crystal. Because of her, we ended up saving the lives of millions. We are all indebted to this girl. That's all I gotta say." Sazh pulled away from the podium. Noel watched as he fell back beside him.

Knowing it was his turn, the boy stepped forward with uncertainty.

What am I supposed to say..?

Almost as if reading his thoughts, Mog spoke into his ear "Don't worry Noel, just speak from your heart, kupo."

Taking his position, Noel stood silent. It remained that way for a while. Finally, he started speaking. "Serah Farron was the bravest soul I knew. Her kindness was unstinting. She was the epitome of a good person. In the short time she and I traveled throughout history together, she taught me a great many things, and helped us the through the most arduous of trials. As we neared the end of our journey, a truth became known to us. Serah had a special power, an ability that would give her visions of the future. Every time we changed the future, she was made to see it. However, this gift was also a curse. Every time she saw what was to come, a portion of her life was stolen from her. She knew. She understood that her life was in danger, she knew it the whole time. Even then... She still chose to fight! She still chose to change history! I knew fierce warriors that would falter in her position but she still stood strong! I will truly miss her, and the time we spent. It was the journey of a lifetime, and it pains me to have to say its over. Even now, she's still with me though, driving me to fix the world and right what's wrong. With a heavy heart, I say goodbye, and goodnight, Serah."

Noel's final words came out as pure unbridled emotion. No sooner than the minute the words left his mouth, tears streaming down his cheeks. He turned away only muttering a few more words that only Hope could register. Sazh caught this, but didn't ask.

The casket was closed, and lowered into the hole that had been dug for Serah. Noel looked away as men grabbed shovels and began to cover up the wooden container holding the young Farron with dirt.

Sazh and Hope stood next to one another, and Sazh nudged the younger man. "Uh, Hope, what was it that the kid said?"

Hope didn't respond immediately. He blinked, and inhaled deeply, before turning his head toward his friend.

"He said he was sorry he couldn't protect her."


	3. Chapter 3 : Sweet Dreams

**Okay, so I know this chapter is late, but I promise I can explain. I intended to upload this Wednesday, and have it finished by then but something called kingdom hearts: dream drop distance happened. I also apologize for how short this chapter is, but it sets the stage for the actual story to begin! Remember I own nothing, and that all characters and whatnot belong to square enix. I'm just playing with them xD if you like what you see, review. Seriously, I promise I'll update more consistently if I get reviews.**

* * *

Waves rolled, soaking the ashen shores of Valhalla. All was silent. The unseen realm had grown completely quiet once the battle held there had reached its decisive end.

Two people strolled along to coastline, walking the shores ever close to the sea of infinite chaos just a few footsteps away.

It was a man, and a young girl. The only living things left in this realm of nothingness.

"I've done all of this for you, Yeul. You and I, we've been freed from our cursed fates. We are slaves to the goddess no longer." Caius's voice was booming. He proudly wore a smirk. His actions have finally allowed the seeress to lead a full life. One not fated to be cut short by the curse known as the Eyes of Etro.

Yeul looked completely crestfallen. She trod alongside her guardian, looking around the area. Her eyes desperately searching for something. Something she just couldn't seem to locate anywhere.

Sensing her distress, Caius stopped the young girl. He brushed a strand of cobalt hair from her face. Suddenly confused, he asked "Yeul, what troubles you? Are you not happy? Is this area not to your liking? If you'd like, we could venture elsewhere."

Yeul frowned, and released a sigh "Caius..."

"Whatever the matter may be, I vow to fix it, Yeul." Caius spoke with a tone of reassurance, something not ordinarily seen coming from the powerful guardian of the seeress.

Yeul turned from her immortal friend, her back now facing the purple haired guardian that had protected her for millennia. "There aren't any people here Caius..."

The man stiffened. He said nothing, and was lost in thought until he noticed Yeul walking off on her own. He quietly followed the girl down the shores, letting out a sigh of confusion.

* * *

Noel sat in the cafeteria of the Academy HQ. Laid before him were the remainders of various sandwiches and fruits. The brunette boy was ravenous, but nothing could quell the feeling of emptiness within. No matter how much he ate, it wouldn't fill him. Something was missing. Serah was missing.

"If you keep eating like that, we won't have enough food to last through the week." Hope jokingly said, as he walked over and took a seat next to the hunter.

"Sorry, just not used to having so much food around." Noel lied.

Frowning, Hope inhaled deeply. He knew what Noel's problem was. He was still in the process of grieving over Serah's death. Emotional eating just happened to be a way for him to cope with it.

"Hey Noel, how are you feeling, physically I mean."

Confused, Noel plainly answered "Well in that regard I feel great. What's up?"

"Well there's someplace I'd like you to come. We're planning an expedition into Bhunizelze. Incase there's anything big and bad in there, it would be useful to have someone with your prowess in combat there to back us up. Just in case of course."

"Calling in your cavalry then, huh? Sure. If it means getting out of here then let's go." Noel hastily got up

_Being anywhere other than here sounds great right now._

"Woah, hold on there Noel. I'm afraid the details of the expedition are still being ironed out. We probably won't be going anywhere until at least two days from now. I thought I should give you time to prepare and gather anything you may need." Hope looked around for a moment. He realized something was missing.

"You looking for Mog?" The guardian asked, reading the directors mind.

"Actually yea I am. I haven't seen him at all today. You wouldn't know where he's gone off, do you?"

"Well yea... About Mog..."

In the distance, Hope had heard what sounded like a joyful "Kupo". The sound had to come from only one moogle. Turning to the direction it came from, both Noel and Hope's eyes grew wide from what unfolded before them.

Mog was alone at a table. He seemed to be waiting for something, and eagerly at that. Through the doors, a man with a trolley emerged. On the cart was a generous assortment of varying sweets and pastries. Hope saw nearly every kind of cake available in the building, and Noel was just amazed that so much cake could exist in one place at a time.

Leaving the trolley with the overjoyed little moogle, the man left the room, also surprised at the sheer amount of sugar he had just handed off. To a moogle no less.

Mog's eyes glistened, and he eagerly floated towards his mountain of sweet mouthwatering morsels.

"Don't tell me he's going to really eat al-" Hope cut his sentence short. Noel stared in awe. Mog began to demolish the spread in front of him. In a mere ten minutes all of the sugary goodness had somehow fit it's way into Mog's tiny belly.

Fully satisfied, Mog let out a tired Kupo, and fell asleep where he floated. Noel and Hope merely stood there with their jaws to the floor.

"So uh, if anyone asks where all the sweets went?" Noel asked, unsure of how they would suddenly explain dozens of treats vanishing. Nobody would believe the tiny little moogle had polished off every last one.

"We tell them they probably got swallowed into a paradox. That's the most believable story I can come up with.

"Oh, they got swallowed alright." Noel and Hope both laughed.

* * *

Noel strapped his blades on his back, taking comfort in the familiar feeling of his sword's added weight on his person.

Their trip to Bhunivelze was planned for today. The size of the expedition was actually quite small, with only a handful of people filling the airship they were using. Hope sat beside him, dressed in his normal academy attire, with a few additions. The director foresaw the possibly of combat, and had gone through the trouble of personally crafting himself a new boomerang for the occasion. Having lived at the end of days, Noel could easily recognize a fine weapon when he saw one.

The whole boomerang itself was made of carved adamantoise shell, which allowed for strength, while being lightweight all the same. The edges of the weapon were tipped with a titanium and adamantite alloy, and the weapon itself folded in and out for ease of carrying.

Mog was between the duo. He floated casually, as he always did, but he started to fly around the room restlessly.

Worried about his moogle companion, Noel asked "You alright over there Mog?"

"Oh I'm okay. I just kinda have a bad feelimg about this, kupo."

Now curious, Hope joined the conversation "What do you mean? It's just a simple trip there and back Mog, nothing too serious."

_So why do you need me here again?_

"You're probably right, Hope. Thanks, kupo!"

The ship's engines blared and started to emit a deafening roar, as well as an odor that stung the nostrils of anyone nearby. Signs that departure was drawing close.

It wasn't long before they took off. In the distace, Bhunivelze crept into view. The chaos had consumed the floating world, and stained it the deepest shade of onyx black imaginable.

The ship lurched suddenly. As if a powerful force had just grabbed it.

Reacting on instinct, Noel took hold of a handle on his seat. He gripped the cold steel desperately as the ship rocked uncontrollably, throwing its occupants within all over the place.

Mog bounced from corner to corner, being the only occupant of the ship not seated in some way.

Hope barely managed to follow suit, and struggled to keep a steady grip on the bars. He stole a glance out the window, and saw that they were no long on course for Bhunivelze. On the horizon, he could make out what looked like several dark buildings. In the center stood the single tallest one, encircled by two gigantic green rings.

The intercom roared to life. A panicked pilot could be heard "The paradox is drawing us in! Everyone aboard, hang on to whatever you can, we're going to crash!"

Noel knew where the ship was headed. The sight from outside the glass window was too familiar to the young man. The place they were crashing was Valhalla.

Both hunter and director braced for impact. All grew quiet for a moment. Time seemed to slow almost to a halt, and Noel closed his eyes.

Bells rang ominously, welcoming the ship to it's grim destination. The sound resonated, and grew darker with each ring.

Then everything went black.

* * *

**So yea, the plot should start picking up after this. I'll try my hardest to stay consistent. If you like what you see, review! Renewed inspiration is always helpful :D**


	4. Chapter 4 : Knights of The Goddess

**See! I'm good on my word! When I get reviews/favorites it makes me wanna write more! Now this chapter begins the actual plot of the story! For anyone unfamiliar with the mythology from Fabula Nova Chrysalis, I shall be delving deep into that mythology as the base of my story. If you would rather everything be a surprise, then do not look up anything about it, and roll with le punches! Anyways, enough of my talk. You know the drill, nothing is mime except for the dance these characters do called the plot of this story.**

* * *

When Noel regained consciousness, the first thing he tasted was rough sand that had somehow infiltrated his mouth. Spitting out the grains, he slowly picked himself up off the ground.

_Where am I?_

He found himself on what looked like a beach. The shores were a pale gray ash, and the sea was dark and foreboding.

Finally collecting himself, Noel scanned the area. He noticed something, and dashed off towards it. Laying before Noel was the remains of the ship's wreckage. Parts and people were strewn along the sand, all lying motionless on the gray earth.

Noel found a familiar head of platinum hair, and rushed over to his friend. He turned Hope's body so that his back was flat against the sand, and checked his pulse.

_Thank the goddess, he's alive._

Hope stirred, and slowly awoke from his unconscious state.

"Noel...?" Hope asked in a daze.

"Yea, it's me Hope. You feeling alright?"

Hope dragged himself to his feet, and brushed the sand off his clothing. He made a few motions of his arms and legs, checking to see if his body still functioned properly. "I feel fine, just little beaten up. Nothing that I can't tolerate."

Noel sighed in relief. "Good, cause I definitely wasn't planning on carrying you."

"So Noel, any idea where we are?" Hope looked around, but was met only with what looked like an endless gray sky. Turning, he saw many large buildings, all ready to fall apart at any moment. The place looked as if it had been neglected for centuries.

"Actually, I think I do. If my memory isn't too foggy, this is probably the shore of Valhalla. It looks similar to where Serah and I confronted Caius." Noel walked over to another person that was laying on the floor. He quickly took the young lady's pulse, only to shake his head in disappointment. These actions repeated themselves until the two men had checked every person in the wreck. If anyone else had survived the crash, they certainly hadn't thought to stick around.

Noel looked towards the center of Valhalla. He was entranced by the large building that stood at the center of the dead city. He got a certain feeling looking at it. What that feeling was, he couldn't quite identify.

"Noel, where's Mog?" Hope asked worriedly.

The two checked everywhere for the tiny moogle. However, their efforts bore no fruit. They eventually decided to forsake the search, and hope that Mog managed to float away from the crash unscathed.

"What's the plan?"

"That large building there with the rings. We're going to it."

Hope was confused. "Any reason why in particular?"

"I've just got this really powerful gut feeling that there's something there, and that we're supposed to go."

The pair collected their gear, and salvaged what little supplies they could from the crash site. They made for their destination, and found the walk there feeling something like a lucid dream.

As they walked, Hope noticed a huge dark sword sheathed in the sand. The blade was nearly as tall as he was, and there was an eye of sorts in the middle. He quickly forgot about the weapon when he noticed Noel proceeding without him. He quickened his pace to catch up with his hunter companion.

After what felt like hours, Hope and Noel were finally at their destination. Looking at it carefully, it seemed to be a temple of some kind. Of the buildings surrounding them, it was definitely the most well kept. The designs were much less simplistic as well, with carvings of images on some of the pillars. There were many mentions of Etro, Pulse, and some other supposed deities that Noel found himself unfamiliar with. Moving onward, the two began to ascend the building.

Just a few floors up, the duo found a crystal. The stone shined with a benevolent light, refracting light into a brilliant rainbow of colors.

"What do you think it does?" Noel asked Hope.

Hope studied the crystal for a moment. After much time, he seemed to reach a conclusion. "Well, I've never seen anything like this. If the room is any indication though, there's no way to go up further, even if the building is tall. This must be our ticket up."

"Okay yea, that's great, but how to we work it?" The young hunter asked, with a hint of frustration.

Hope smiled knowingly. "If it's anything like most devices I've come across, you just touch it."

"Is it strange that I don't doubt that conclusion one bit ?" Noel chuckled.

Both Noel and Hope raised their hands and pressed them onto the crystal. It shone brighter, and soon the light had completely enveloped them.

When the light dimmed the men found themselves in an entirely new room. It was a small room, housing another crystal and with a narrow corridor leading to another chamber.

"How kind, they thought to design a way out for us." Noel noticed the new crystal, and made for the exit. "Well, shall we?"

Hope trailed behind his friend. When the passageway ended, he emerged in a grand throne room of sorts. Ornate columns supported the roof and there were several murals of a winged man and woman. The first few images depicted the two together in happiness. In one, the man seemed to be killing the woman, and she wore a horrified expression. The next picture showed her entering a door of some sort. The final image Hope saw was two of the woman. One immersed in darkness, reaching out towards the other.

Noel was ahead, and he stood before a shimmering crystal throne. The throne had a brilliance that he had never seen before, and truly didn't belong in such a dark place contaminated by chaos. Noel admired it for some time. Only after several minutes did he realize that someone was sitting on the throne.

The figure was also made of same crystal as the throne. It looked like a woman, with her legs crossed. She had a sword resting on her lap, and she faced forward. Her frozen eyes teemed with resolve.

"No way..." Noel was transfixed by the sight. He recognized the woman. He'd only met her twice, but that look was unmistakeable.

Hope finally caught up with his friend, completely awed by what he saw in the room. "Hey Noel, what wro-" Hope stopped. At first his jaw dropped at what he saw. His eyes flew wide open, and his knees buckled. He fell to the ground, tears welling up in his eyes.

"This can't be! Not her too!" Hope said, his tone filled with agony.

_Damn you Caius_.

"Lightning..." Noel uttered the name of the valkyrie warrior. He had thought Lightning to be undefeatable. Somehow she still ended up in this state. The thought alone was ridiculous, yet here she was. Sleeping in crystal.

Suddenly, the throne shone brighter. The room was set aglow from the radiance of the crystal.

Noel shut his eyes, and when he opened them once more, he found that he was no longer in the throne room with Hope. Now, he stood on air, floating amidst a blackness which he could only assume to be a sea of chaos.

"It may have been bright, but this isn't quite what I had in mind." Noel sarcastically said.

"Maybe it wasn't, but this was the best I could do." An unseen voice chimed. "You are Noel Kriess, right?"

Noel was wary, how did this faceless person know who he was. "Maybe I am. I'm pretty sure I was taught not to speak to strangers though, if you know what I mean."

The voice giggled. "My apologies." A woman faded into Noel's view. She was beautiful, and glowed with an otherworldly aura. Her gown was something out of a fairytale, like what a princess would wear. She brushed some of her strands of blonde hair from her face.

"Who are you? I don't think I've ever met you before."

"You haven't, Noel Kriess. In fact, very few humans have met me." She spoke gently.

"Humans? You're not human?" Noel questioned. Things were growing stranger with each passing moment.

"Indeed. You humans would likely call me a goddess or something of the sort."

"You're not... You're not Etro, are you?" His pitch rose quickly. How could Etro be standing before him? Had he not killed her?

"Calm down, Noel Kriess. I'm not Etro, but I knew her. I only actually met her briefly, but since then, I had been with her all along. When she and I met, I was on the verge of death. Chaos was slowly consuming my being, and I was nearly ready to vanish from existence. Etro came to me, and I told her that she must keep order, and protect the balance between the two realms. The realm of the living, and the unseen realm. The realm of death and timelessness you know as Valhalla. When death claimed me, I instilled what little essence remained of myself into Etro, to bolster her power. I've lived through her since then. Until recently."

"Until I killed her." Noel deadpanned.

The mysterious woman nodded. "Yes, the trick that led you to slay her caused myself to separate from Etro. Now I have a mere few precious moments of existence remaining. I have chosen you, and your friend. There is a way to right the wrongs, and to set time itself right like it should be."

"That can be done? But I thought this was the eternal paradox! I thought it was irreversible!" Noel shouted.

"Under any other circumstances, it would be such. However, your mentor, Caius, was unaware of my being."

Noel was overwhelmed. This information was too much for his mind to process at once, and he could hardly think. "How can I do it? I want things to be right again!"

She smiled at the boy. "I shall grant you and Hope Esthiem the remaining power I have. It may not be nearly as much as what Etro had granted to Claire, or as she preferred to be called, Lightning, but perhaps you two can put it to good use."

Noel rose up, lifted into the air amidst the darkness. He could feel energy rushing into his being. Light began to shine, driving away the darkness. His eyes fluttered shut, as he allowed the essence to firmly plant itself within his body.

"Be wary, Noel Kriess. The shattering of reality as you know it has allowed a new great power to usher himself back into existence. You may find yourself confronting him, but I believe you have the key to saving the world I worked so hard to create." The benevolent woman began to fade. She slowly became only a phantom.

"You created the world? Just who are you?"

The woman gave one last reply, one that could barely be heard by the young hunter. "I am Mwynn, the mother of all things in this world."

As Mwynn's voice disappeared, so too did Noel's consciousness. He quietly drifted into the sweet embrace of slumber.

* * *

"Noel? Noel, wake up!"

Noel's sleep was interrupted by a violent shaking from Hope Esthiem. Groggily, the hunter opened his eyes to the sight of his companion. This however, wasn't the Hope he had grown accustomed to seeing.

The man he knew no longer wore an outfit of the academy. His attire had been replaced by armor with a color of the purest emerald green. His weapon hung from his hip, and the breastplate reflected off the light of the crystal throne.

Noel pushed Hope off of him, not yet registering the change in Hope's appearance, and stood up from ground. He looked down to notice his comfortable moccasins had been replaced by metal boots. The boots were a comfortable fit, being plated and allowing for easy movement. His shoes were not the only difference though. His normal hunter clothing was entire replaced with a sapphire blue suit of armor, not much unlike Hope's suit. Most of the gear itself was plated, and seemed hand forged to fit perfectly around every nook and cranny of Noel's body.

"Woah. Did she give me this?" Was all Noel had to say, as he inspected himself. The armor was definitely to his liking.

"She? So you met her too then?"

Noel faced Hope, rounding his shoulder in the armor as he spoke. "Yea, her name was Mwynn. She said she knew Etro and something like how she was the mother of the world. This must be what she meant when she said she would endow us with her power. I guess we're her chosen knights."

"As Light was to Etro.." Hope murmered.

"She told me that we could fix things, but she didn't give me any indication of how to do that. What about you?"

"No, nothing. I suppose we couldn't expect that much anyways." Hope paced the room, and continued to rant. "While I know this is a good cause, saving the world and all, this doesn't feel all that different than being a L'cie. Having a goal that we don't even know, taking orders fromas one higher being. It's almost déjà vu." Hope said seriously. "I guess I like the uniform we get to wear a little bit more though." The older man laughed at his own joke.

Suddenly, the crystal they had entered the throne room with flashed. Noel and Hope each drew their weapons, prepared for a confrontation. Noel now noticed his swords too, had been upgraded. The pair of blades was made of a lightweight metal he couldn't identify, and the blades themselves were extremely ornate. There was writing on his larger sword that Noel couldn't understand.

When the flash died down, a tiny voice was heard. "No, wait! Don't attack kupo!" Mog begged for his life, not recognizing his friends.

"Mog?!" Both Hope and Noel said in unison. They ran towards their moogle companion.

"Hope? Noel? What happened to you two, kupo?"

"It's a long story, we can talk about it later. Where have you been? We got pretty worried when we were short one moogle at the crash site."

"Noel, I found them!" Mog shouted excitedly, as loud as a moogle could shout.

"What did you find?" The hunter turned knight asked.

"Well after the crash, I woke up somewhere else around here, and I found them, Kupo!" Mog ranted, telling Noel everything except what he actually had found.

"Mog, slow down a minute, do you think you could tell Noel and I what it is you actually found first?" Hope spoke gently, trying to get his point across the moogle.

Mog stopped speaking, and turned to Hope. "I found the time gates, Kupo!"

* * *

**I hope this chapter came out good. It took lots of touching up in some places. Also, I'm looking for a Beta Reader for this story, if anyone is interested. For the most part, I'm going with grammar and punctuation. I just need someone to make sure my vocabulary doesn't get repetitive and that everything flows well.**

**If anyone is wondering what the writing on Noel's weapon is, it's something called Etro Script. It's a special language in the Fabula Nova Chrysalis universe.**

**Don't forget, if you like what you read, let me know! Knowing people are interested in my story will keep me writing!**


	5. Chapter 5 : Rise of The Dark Knight

**Well, here's the next chapter everyone! I've gotten a few follows a favorites recently, and I REALLY appreciate the support. Thanks goes out to these guys!**

**Rainbow-Miasma, D1no, The Simplest of Hearts, and Madapocket.**

**More thanks to my buddy Red-Dream, who helps me sort out my ideas, andhaddock tons of great writings of his own as well!**

**Anyways, here begins Hope and Noel's (or Noel and Hope's, if you prefer) exciting start to time travel! **

**Remember, I don't own Final Fantasty, or any characters, only the unique plot of this fanfiction! Don't forget to review/follow/favorite if you like what you read! (No seriously, these things keep my writing going, and keep me inspired!)**

**On with the story! :D**

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Steel boots clicked and clacked on the ground, breaking the eerie silence of Valhalla. Noel and Hope followed their moogle companion Mog, as they approached another section of the dead city that they had previously ignored.

"Right this way, kupo!" Mog cheered.

They all entered a colossal building, walking in casually. Passing through the smaller first room, the knights found themselves staring at an expanse of emptiness. The large chamber floor was devoid of anything, and smelled musty.

"Mog, I don't see anything." An annoyed Noel said.

"Leave it to me, kupo!" Mog began twirling and waving his little wand about. In doing so, he revealed several time games that were all hidden. The room, which was formerly empty, filled with the golden color of several time gates.

Hope inspected the nearest gate. It was dim, and seemed as if it was inoperable. "This is great Mog, but I doubt we'll be able to use these. Weren't all time gates recalled to Valhalla anyways? That would mean we can't travel anywhere, even if we wanted to."

"Now wait just a minute. Mog, you have the ability to pull items from a paradox, and bring them into our time, right? It's not limited to times either, you've revealed bridges, and even rifts before. Since you can do that, would it be possible to do the reverse? Send an object into another era, or something like that?" Noel stroked his chin as he spoke, carefully wording his analysis.

Mog's head tilted, trying to follow what the boy was getting at. "Well gee, I've never tried something like that kupo. It makes a whole lot of sense though, so I'll give it a shot kupo!"

Mog began spinning and wand waving once more. Nothing had happened. "No good, kupo."

Suddenly, gates began to levitate off the ground. One by one, they started to rise into the air and seemed to be almost alive. Each gate began to vanish in a flash of light, leaving only one gate in their wake.

"Well Noel, nice job."Hope grinned. "Maybe now we can actually get somewhere. Where do you think this gate takes us?"

"No idea. Usually, they take us wherever they feel like. There doesn't seem to be any real pattern to the eras or locations each gate leads to."

The gate stirred. Both knights and Mog glowed with a golden light. Time distorted around them as they made their way into the historia crux.

Out of their view, a dark figure of the deepest purple watched the small party vanish into time.

His teeth gritted. "Noel..."

* * *

The skies were a brilliant hue of blue. Grassy plains rolled on as far as the eye could see, stopping only at the feet of the towering mountain ranges in the distance. The air was crisp, and smelled of life, refreshing and reinvigorating Noel as he stepped away from the gate.

"This doesn't look like any era I've been in." Noel said.

"I think I actually recognize this place." Hope scanned his surroundings and examined the enviornment. "I definitely know this place! This has to be the Archylte Steppe!"

"So you know this place then?"

Hope nodded. "When we were all l'cie, we ended up on Gran Pulse and trekked through these plains to get to Oerba. Longest trip of my entire life."

Mog's bobble was twitching rapidly. "Look you guys, look over there kupo!"

Far off Noel could make out several figures. One of them was gigantic, and seemed to have something on his head. He had a long flowing trench coat of sorts. One man had an Afro and a green jacket. He could also see what looked like two girls almost attached at the hip, one wearing clothes not too unlike what he usually wore, and the other with pink hair and a pink top.

Ahead of the little entourage was a woman. She stood tall, with her rosy pink hair flowing behind her as she led the group across the plains. Following in her shadow was a boy. He wore mostly orange, and struggled somewhat to keep up with their leader's pace.

"Hope, get a look at this." The azure knight called his companion excitedly.

"Is that.. is that us?" Hope recognized the moment perfectly. They had just started travelling again. He would trip, and Lightning would backtrack somewhat to help him up. Then they would...

_Oh no_.

On cue, a behemoth sprung out from seemingly nowhere. The group scattered and the two time travelers watched as they made short work of the feral beast.

Hope noticed Noel was visible to his past group, and quickly pulled him out of sight, causing Noel to hit is head on a rock.

"Ouch. What'd you do that for?" He rubbed the spot that made impact, attempting to soothe the pain.

"We can't let them see us. It might interfere with them going about things as I know they're supposed to happen. It's best if we steer clear of them."

They went on their way, traversing the seemingly endless plain of the Archlyte Steppe. Eventually, they decided on taking a break, and resting their legs.

"So where do you think we're headed now?" Noel rolled his shoulder.

"Don't ask me. You're the one who's done this before. I'm a newbie when it comes to time travel."

Noel sighed. "Right.."

A loud scream disturbed the idle conversation between Hope and Noel. Quickly heading to the direction of the sound, the men found the l'cie group being confronted by an Adamantoise.

"Hope, what do we do?" Noel asked cooly.

"We can't interfere. I remember this encounter. Snow had the bright idea of trying to take down one of those." Hope pointed at the large tortoise creature. "As you can see, it wasn't the best idea. We managed to make it out okay though. Somehow."

The two observed the fight. The group wasn't faring too well. Sazh and Vanille were already out for the count. The other four were barely managing to avoid the brutality of the Adamantoise's attacks. It raised its left foreleg, and with a stomp managed to knock out the remaining l'cie.

"Hope this doesn't look too good!" Noel unsheathed his weapons. "Cover me with some magic, will you?" He rushed headfirst into the fray.

The Adamantoise raised its left foreleg again for another stomp, one that would surely extinguish the lives of the l'cie. Just before making contact with the ground, it's leg halted.

Noel had put himself between the leg of the beast and the ground. He pushed upward on the foot, mustering strength that could only be deemed inhuman.

"Blizzaga!" The air cooled rapidly, and ice formed on the snout of the Adamantoise. A loud snap indicated the ice cracking right in its face. This caused it to falter, allowing Noel to throw it off balance.

The Adamantoise fell to its side, certainly clueless to the assault being laid upon it. Noel darted to its face, and changed roles to his commando role. He swung his swords left and right, littering the poor creature's face with lacerations.

Hope launched an Aerora spell at the Adamantoise, the wind acting as sharp blades that scratched its rough hide. Fed up with the fight, Noel launched himself into the sky, combining his two swords into a lance. He repeatedly thrust the weapon at the beast, each strike booming as it made contact. He ended it by launching the weapon into its skull, crushing and piercing the bone, and ending the beasts life.

"I don't get why things had to happen this way. When I was younger we managed to somehow beat it." A confused Hope said.

"Maybe that's just it. We were supposed to interfere in someway but we didn't. Either way, I don't think this is gonna affect the timeline at all. We should get out of here before they wake up. Don't they say if you meet your past self the universe collapses in on itself, or something like that?"

Smiling, Hope raised his hand and turned to the six unconscious l'cie. "Curaja!" The healing spell left the emerald knight's hand and began mending the wounds of the six. "Alright, we can go now."

The men walked along the steppe once more, with Mog in tow. Noel initiated conversation once more. "I can understand you not wanting to mess up you guys saving Cocoon, but for future reference, the best thing to do is get involved. We are trying to fix the future after all. It can't exactly do that without a little push."

"Indeed, the future can only be molded by the strength of one's resolve." A deep voice sounded from behind the duo.

Mog quivered in fear, and hid behind Noel. "Oh no kupo!"

The boy stopped. He slowly turned to face the man behind them, as his teeth ground. "Caius." Without further word, Noel drew his swords and launched himself at the man.

Hope, realizing who they were dealing with, quickly gripped his boomerang. He launched an Aerora spell behind Noel, to give him a burst of speed as he approached Caius.

"Aren't you supposed to be dead? You've done enough already damnit!" Noel slashed forward at the man, which was easily reflected. Caius retaliated with a kick to Noel's abdomen, sending the knight flying several feet backwards.

Hope slung several firaga spells at the guardian. Caius took the brunt of each one, but didn't even flinch. Trying a different approach, he threw his boomerang, and sent it circling around Caius. In a single swing, the weapon was cleaved in two by Caius's massive sword.

Nervously, Hope backed up, putting distance between himself and Caius, allowing Noel to get in close instead.

_I need a weapon right now. My magic has hardly any effect, and my boomerang I spent two weeks on fell apart like a child's toy. This is bad._

Dodging a slash from his former mentor, Noel yelled out "Hope, what are you doing?" He counter Caius with several attacks from his own weapon, and resumed his speaking. "Hurry up and fight! Use Mog!"

"Noel's right, kupo. I can take the shape of many different weapons. Just tell me one and it's your's, kupo."

"Let's see, a boomerang won't work because he'll just swat it away. I don't know how to use anything except..." An idea struck the young man. He nodded at Mog, who began transforming quickly.

Meanwhile, Noel was struggling to hold off Caius. The two were an even match, with neither gaining any upper hand. Suddenly, a gunshot was heard. The bullet pelted Caius directly in his chest plate, which caused him to stagger slightly. Hope rushed in, now with a sword in hand, and started assisting Noel in the close range fight.

Noel and Hope quickly gained the upper hand, both men being too fast for Caius to focus on at the same time. Hope unleashed a combo with his weapon while Noel took advantage of the opportunity and launched the guardian into the air.

Not wasting the chance, Hope began casting an array of powerful magic. Conjuring an Aeroga spell, he set the tornado on their airborne foe. Noel followed suit, changing to his ravager role and using strikes imbued with magic. Hope's weapon changed, the parts shifting and moving into the shape of a gun. Simultaneously, he and Noel shot and struck Caius respectively. Caius landed on the ground with a thud, and slowly picked himself up again.

Noel's chest was heaving and he spoke as he panted "Had enough?"

Caius smirked, seemingly unphased by the assault waged upon him merely moments ago. "I had no intention of battle upon my arrival here. I came simply to speak with you. However, I think it best I save the conversation for another time." With that, Caius disappeared in a mist of chaos.

"How is he alive..?" Noel asked the question, in a tone that nearly begged for the answer.

He should be dead. I watched him die in Valhalla. So why is he here now?

Placing his hand on Noel's shoulder, Hope attempted to console his friend. "Don't worry about it Noel. We can stop him if we need to. Come on, I think I see another gate."

And another gate there was. They approached it, and a sullen Noel looked up at the gate. It shone, and the group stepped into the flow of time.

* * *

"Yeul... Why?" Caius held the lifeless body of his seeress in his arms. She had died once again. Not from a vision. He couldn't tell why she had died. The only clue he had was the pain stricken express on the young girl's face.

The chaos grew thick around Caius, enveloping him. He looked up, now shrouded in complete darkness.

"You wish to restore her life to her?" A man's voice was heard by the millennia-old warrior.

"By what ways would such a thing be accomplished?" Caius asked the voice.

"It is simple, Caius Ballad. I have power. Much power. I can share this power with you, if you decide to do a few things for me."

Caius weighed the choice carefully. This voice was promising him the ability to resurrect Yeul. That was a mighty promise indeed, but at what cost?

"What would you have me do?" The purple haired man asked.

"It is simple. On the day the world falls from the sky, you must ensure that millions of lives are lost. That the inhabitants of Cocoon all perish in the tragedy. Will you make this possible?"

Caius frowned. More death and destruction. While he wasn't so fond of destroying a life at all, he would pay any cost for Yeul.

"Before I agree, tell me. Who are you, surely you're more than a faceless voice."

The voice laughed, nearly cackling. "That is a request I'll gladly grant."

Chaos crept up chaos's body. It covered his armor in its entirety, and changed it to something else. Now, he wore a suit of pure black armor. He looked like a perfect knight of death, wearing steel forged in the fiery pits of hell itself.

"Welcome to my service, Caius Ballad. My name is Bhunivelze, the god who rules and judges all existence."

A vortex of Chaos appeared before the dark knight. He stepped into it, and disappeared amidst the blackness.

"Yes! The time has come! The gate to the unseen realm shall be opened, and the hex that cursed mother of mine laid on the mortal realm shall be lifted!" Bhunivelze cackled maniacally, as the darkness said nothing.

* * *

**And the plot thickens further! Another god, another knight, oh things are simply cosmic in proportion. Anyone wanna take a guess where I'm sending Noel and Hope now? See you guys again next Wednesday (Hopefully, if I see enough inteterest in this story from you guys xD) with another chapter! :D**


	6. Chapter 6 : Caecus Per Lux Lucis

**Hey guys! I managed to update on schedule yet again! :D Not sure ofthis means much to any of you, but since my last update, this story has finally broken 500 hits :) I'm extremely grateful for all the support, and I hope that people keep showing increased interest in this story.**

**In other news, apparantly in a week and a half or so, Square-Enix is announcing something about the "Lightning Saga". I hope it's an FFXIII-3 announcement 3 Then I could brag about how close my story is to the actual plot (if it is close of course xD) Also, a new site was put up by square, and it has a timer on it that looks a lot like the timers from TWEWY(For anyone who knows the game, they'll understand the acronym) so I hope a sequel to that gets announced as well!**

**Remember, if you enjoy reading this story, review/favorite/follow. It inspires me to keep on writing! Square-Enix owns all of Final Fantasy, and it's characters, the only thing I claim rights to is the plot of this fanfic. **

**And now for chapter 6 of Ballad of an Eternity!**

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Annals of the fragments

_X. The seeress of the farseers has left us many prophecies, but amongst them the most enigmatic must surely be this: 'When Valhalla consumes the sky, a new star flashes like lightning, and in the heavens twinkles a distant hope."_

_What does it mean "When Valhalla consumes the sky"? What is the new star that flashes in the sky? Does the prophecy foretell a future of salvation-or destruction? No one can say._

* * *

"Where are we?"

The landscape was barren. The world seemed to be drained of all forms life, with soil composed purely of ash.

Noel frowned. This must have been the distant future. "This looks at lot like my time. Not to many differences from it at anyways. The skies look as dull and depressing as I remember them. Even the air has the same empty taste."

Hope was shocked. This is what the future was destined to end up like? He couldn't see a single person or creature in sight. Not only that, it seemed like the planet itself was dying.

"Come on guys, I think I see something. Let's go over that way."

Noel led the way, seemingly familiar with the terrain they tread on. Maybe it was just that he was used to being in this lonely world. Either way, both instances were depressing to even think about.

Noel, Hope and Mog found themselves at some sort of settlement. What remained of one anyways. The buildings looked as if they decayed away centuries ago, and we're half buried in the ash. Hope lost his composure for a moment at the sight of things, but quickly jolted upright when he realized how he had looked.

"Hm, I know where we are." Noel sighed. "This is my village. It must be a few hundred years since the time I came from, judging by the state of everything. There's something I wanna see, if you guys don't mind coming along."

"Yea Noel, sure. Lead the way."

Hope fell in beside his friend, following him quietly to their destination. The walk was a long one, taking them away from the ruined village and through another one equally as deteriorated. After about an hour and a half, they finally arrived at a statue-like monument, with some sort of altar in front of it. On it rested an oracle drive.

"This is where she died..." Noel whispered, recalling the painful experience of Yeul's passing.

Several hundred years prior, before Noel knew of time travel, the Yeul he knew died in his arms at this very spot. She saw a vision of the future. Or was it the past? She saw that she and Noel would somehow meet again, and died smiling. This sparked Noel to start his journey.

"Looks like we did get to meet again after all, right Yeul?" Noel allowed a sad smile to creep across his face. He met several Yeuls during his journey with Serah. None were the same though. It was as Caius said, every one of them was unique.

A thunderous roar echoed from behind both knights. They turned around, and were greeted by a gigantic behemoth, easily three times larger than the norm. Noel drew his blades and Mog quickly transformed into a gunblade for Hope. Hope gripped the weapon with a hint of eagerness.

"You sure you wanna use that thing? Not like I'm complaining or anything, just that I hear there aren't many people who could use one of those things properly." Noel asked his friend.

Hope replied back in a knowing tone. "Yea, when I joined the academy they made me learn the basics of combat with a weapon of choice. Turns out they don't consider boomerangs effective weapons, since it wasn't one of the choices. This was the next best thing. Besides, I could get used to fighting like this. It reminds me of an important person who taught me a lot when I needed someone the most."

The behemoth drew near, slowly creeping up on the two knights to begin its attack.

"You're mine!" A new voice rang out, grabbing the attention of everyone, including the colossal monster standing before Hope and Noel

Gunshots rang out, and a blur whizzed through the air that could hardly even be seen by the two men. Suddenly, the behemoth cried out in agony. Noel could barely register a flash of pink gracefully dancing around the behemoth, slashing precisely and expertly to harm the beast.

The voice spoke again, in an almost bored tone. "Time to end it." With lightning fast speed, the newcomer unleashed a brutal combo on the behemoth, delivering several kicks and slashes to the monster. Amidst the onslaught gunshots would occasionally be heard. She jumped up, and slashed downward directly on the beast, ending the battle, and it's life.

When the dust settled, Hope, Noel and Mog rushed to see who their newcomer was. Hope ran the quickest of the three, because he knew only one person who was so graceful and deadly in battle, all at the same time.

"LIGHTNING!" The emerald knight cried out in pure joy. He tackle hugged Light, throwing her off balance and nearly bringing her to the floor. Quickly, she pushed off this man she didn't recognize, and slammed her fist straight into his face.

"Who the hell do you think you are? Wha-" Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw the man's features. Platinum colored hair, eyes shining emerald green. Her jaw dropped somewhat when she registered who she'd just punched in the jaw.

"Hope, is that you?" She was entirely in disbelief. When she was pulled away to Valhalla, Hope was but a mere boy. She completely missed out on watching him grow up. It was amazing how much time could change a person.

Hope smiled nervously. "Nice to see you too, Light." He rubbed his jaw. Now he knew how Snow felt all the time. It was a wonder how he didn't have his jaw broken repeatedly, considering how often the self proclaimed hero was punched by her.

Lightning leaned over, and offered a hand to her friend. Hope took it eagerly, and was pulled onto his feet and into an embrace.

"You've really grown up Hope. Seeing you know makes me extremely proud of you. Now if only Snow would follow suit..." She and Hope chuckled heartily at her joke, enjoying their first honest laugh in a long time.

"I do hope I'm not ruining a moment." Their laughter was broken by the mocking voice of Noel.

Hope broke the hug first. "Of course not. Sorry about that, I just haven't seen her for what, about a few centuries now?"

"Hey, how'd you two get here? I thought that all time gates had been recalled back to Valhalla at the time Noel killed Caius." Lightning asked.

"Well we somehow found ourselves in Valhalla, after crashing from an airship that was headed towards the new cocoon I had built. Eventually Noel had the idea for Mog to try and use his powers to send the gates back into the timeline."

"While we were there, we saw you encased in crystal. What happened there? Caius didn't do that, right?"

Lightning frowned. "No, I chose to become crystal. It was the only way to keep hope alive. When Caius and I fought in Valhalla, it eventually became clear to me, that Serah was going to die just like Yeul had many times over. After the battle, somehow Serah's soul reached out to me. She told me she didn't regret the path she had chosen, and reassured me. The only thing she wanted was for me to remember her, and keep her memory alive. So I chose sleep. Encased in brilliant crystal, I could preserve her memory even if the waves of chaos consumed the world. As for why I'm awake now, the time must have come for me to awaken. It must be because you two showed up in this time. Judging by the armor you guys are involved with this just as much as I am."

Realizing she was referring to their armor, Noel began to explain. "When we were in Valhalla, we met with another goddess. She called herself Mwynn, and she blessed the two of us with what little power of hers remained. I think the only reason the world hasn't completely succumbed to chaos is because some of her and Etro's power still exists within the three of us."

"So if something happens to us, then it's game over. Right, well we'll just make sure that we live." Lightning spoke casually, unfazed by how difficult staying out of harm might be.

"Mwynn said something about an enemy or something, now that she had faded from the world. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you Light?"

Lightning searched her mind for an answer, but found nothing. "Sorry Hope. I have no idea who she may have meant. The only thing I knew was that Etro was holding back the chaos in Valhalla and that if it was unleashed, some sort of sleeping god would awaken.

"Then that must be it." Noel crossed his arms.

_We might have to fight a god? Just how huge is this whole thing?_

Hope's voice interrupted Noel's thoughts. "Also, there's one last thing we forgot to mention. Caius is still alive, when Noel and I were in a time before this one, we encountered him."

Light sighed in frustration. Things couldn't simply be easy for once, could they?

"We'll deal with him if and when we need to. Right now there's one thing we should be doing. We need to find the next gate and keep pressing onward. I think I saw something on the way here. I didn't get to check it out, cause I saw the behemoth, but it's worth a look at."

With that said, Lightning took point. Hope, Noel and Mog fell in behind her. They didn't travel far before coming across the gate mentioned by Light.

Noel observed the world once again. It was still black and gloomy. However, it almost seemed a little brighter are the same time. Like light had been restored to it.

The group used the gate. They all stepped into the historia crux, leaving behind the bleak future. After they left, a star flashed bright and lightning streaked across sky.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I wonder just how many people caught my use of vocabulary related to electricity throught this chapter up until Lightning's appearance ;)**

**Anyways, leave me reviews please! It would make me extremely grateful if you did :D **


	7. Chapter 7 : Prelude to a Ballad

**Author's Note**

**I'm back again for another update! I literally just finished writing this chapter today. I got preoccupied with playing the TWEWY iOS port yesterday andthe day before xD (I'm disappointed that they didn't announce a sequel, but I really like the port. Especially since they added about. 15 songs to the game)**

**This Saturday is the day! Sept. 1st Square-Enix is announcing the direction that they're taking the "Lightning Saga" in! :D I'm so incredibly excited for it. Since its the 25th FF anniverssary,they better give us some new info on FF Versus XIII(Like a release date. Seriously, they've been working on it since 06, and it apparantly entered "Full Production" about a year ago. I'm not being unreasonable, right? **

**Anyways, one of my fans has decided they want to draw a picture of Hope in his emerald knight armor. Once it's done, I'm gonna link it in one of my updates.**

**You know the drill. I own nothing. Square owns pretty much everything. Here's chapter 7!**

* * *

_**Annals of the fragments**_

_IV. Ortilinde's Bloom_

_In the mighty city of Paddra sits a fal'cie, sent there by the mighty god Pulse. The fal'cie channels the visions of the Farseer seeress and records what she sees in the oracle drive._

_The people of Paddra pay homage to the fal'cie and worship Pulse who stands above. Devotedly, they bow their heads to the fal'cie and the prophecies. Fearfully, they kneel before Etro, the goddess of death whom the seeress serves_.

* * *

The trio of knights found themselves on Gran Pulse once more. They were in a time of the distant past, as signaled by a lack of Cocoon in the sky. The sky looked unusual. Neither of the three were used to seeing it as it was. When Hope, Noel or Lightning would look into the sky, they saw either Cocoon encased in crystal, or in Noel's case an overcast sky foretelling sadness. The sky lacked either of these things, and it was unsettling for the three warriors.

A carriage drawn by chocobos approached. A man in Pulsian attire commanded the vehicle, and noticed Noel and the others along the side of the road.

"Ah hello there, you three seem to be lost." He happily greeted the strangers as if he'd been close friends with them.

Noel returned the jolly gesture. "Uh yea, you could say that. We're not from around here. You wouldn't mind telling is where the nearest town or city might be, would you?" Noel smiled nervously. They probably stood out like a golden chocobo. He wouldn't be surprised if when they got somewhere people gave them funny looks.

"Actually, I'm headed there right now, I'm a traveling merchant and I have a shipment of goods I need to deliver. If you'd like, you three and that little doll of yours can hop in the back and I'll take you with me."

Mog sighed at being called a doll, but quickly relented as the group took the man up on his offer. Noel, Lightning and Mog got in back, while Hope decided to sit up front with their gracious host.

"Thanks for the ride sir, we're glad to be in the company of someone so accommodating." Hope thanked the man.

"Hey, it's no problem. Let me introduce myself, I'm Alvaro." Alvaro held a hand out for Hope to shake.

Hope smiled and returned the gesture. "It's truly a pleasure Alvaro, my name is Hope, and the two in the back are Noel and Lightning. I can't thank you enough for how much this means to us."

"Hey, it's not a problem at all Hope. I'm always willing to help out someone in need. Where are you three from anyways? You don't seem to be from any village I know of."

_Crap_

"Well uh.." Hope stumbled over his own words as he thought of a convincing lie to tell Alvaro. Not only would saying there were time travelers be unbelievable, it could have some negative effect on the timeline since they were so far back into the past.

"We're sort of drifters. We don't really have a place we call home." The words were true enough. Alvaro was content with the answer, and dropped the subject.

Meanwhile, in the back Noel and Lightning talked strategy. They knew they were fighting a battle of unreal proportions and wanted every chance to be ready for what may come.

"So Alvaro, where are we headed anyways?" Hope thought it would be wise to know their destination.

Alvaro turned his head to the silverette, and gave him a confounded look. "You mean you don't recognize this trail? Why, we're headed straight through the Yaschas Massif into the great city of Paddra!"

* * *

-1500 AF. Era where the grand city of Paddra, ruled by the Farseer seeress Paddra Nsu Yeul. Hope had never imagined the ruins he had once spent countless hours researching would have been host to a civilization of this caliber. Technological differences aside, Paddra rivaled Academia, both in terms of expansiveness and population. The scientist within Hope was bursting at the seams, eagerly taking in the sights of the colossal settlement.

"Wow.." Hope was robbed of words. He stared in awe at the massive temple located in what must be the center of Paddra. He was knocked from his trance by a slap on the back by none other than Noel.

"We can sight-see some other time. I know this must really be something for you, but we can't afford to forget why we're here." Noel teased his friend, and Hope smiled sheepishly, walking over to Alvaro and began to help him unload his wares.

Lightning chuckled, which earned Noel's curiosity. "Mind sharing the joke with me? I could use a laugh too."

"It's Hope." Light began "He's all grown up now, my age even. He's built a whole world with his own hands, and finally found his way, but I can see that the child in him is still in there somewhere. I could see it in how he was admiring this city. Like a little boy on his birthday."

Noel smiled. "Heh, yea. I guess you're right about that.

Alvaro and Hope finished unloading the carriage, and motioned to Noel and Light.

"Alright you three, feel free to explore. If you get lost, meet me over there." Alvaro pointed at the large temple in the center of Paddra. "That place is the most recognizable part of Paddra, and it's also where I'm opening up shop. Should be easy enough to locate me."

The trio of Knights wandered around Paddra, unsure what they should be doing. There didn't seem to be anything going on that required their attention. In fact, the metropolis seemed completely peaceful, with all of its residents bustling about with their daily routines.

After much wandering, they arrived at an open field of sorts. Many warriors were sparring, waging brutal one on one fights that impressed even Lightning.

From behind her, she heard an eerily familiar voice. "Are you lost? The three of you don't seem too familiar with this city. I could escort you to your destination if you so desire."

The armored warriors quickly about-faced, to be met with none other than Caius.

Noel's entire body instantly tensed at the sight of his former mentor. What was he doing here? Were they so easily followed?

"Caius..." Noel spat out the name venomously.

The warrior was taken aback by the resentment in this strangers voice. How had he wronged this young man?

"How do you know of me? Has the name of Caius Validus already spread to the masses, of the next guardian in line to serve the seeress?

Caius Validus? Does that mean he's not the same Caius we know?

Hope placed himself between Noel and Caius, forcibly lowering his comrade's now drawn weapons. Lightning stood silent and austere, observing the events as they unfolded.

"Excuse my friend, he does this fairly often. We have heard of your name. In a large city such as this, that sort of thing is to be expected, right?"

_That could have ended badly._

Noel glared at Hope in confusion, wondering why he would shield their enemy from him. "Hope what are yo-"

Hope spoke without even turning to his friend. "Noel, we'll talk about this later, alright? Anyways, thanks for the offer but we'll find our own way."

Caius grunted, and left the trio as they were.

"Hope, what the hell was that about? Do you know who that was? That was CAIUS, the guy who ruined the timeline and world as we know it." Noel sputtered the words in exasperation.

"I know, but we can't. He's not the Caius we know, even if he looks, or is the same man. Besides, being this far in the past, killing the guardian of the seeress could bring about a worse future than what we have now. The side effects of doing so could be regrettable. His replacement may be worse than he would be. We don't know any of this for certain, but I feel that it's better to keep a foe that we know, than to risk fighting something we don't."

"Tch, and what do you think, Lightning?"

"While I'd love nothing more than to strike down the man responsible for everything, including Serah's death, I must agree with Hope. It's too risky to take any other sort of action, regardless of the future threat he'll pose."

Seeing no other choice, Noel submitted to their reasoning. "Gah, alright fine. I still don't like it though."

"Hm, I don't really see anything worth checking out. Maybe we should call it a day, and check in with Alvaro." The suggestion came from Hope. Not having any better ideas, Noel and Light agreed, and the group left for the center of the city.

* * *

Now near the temple that stood in the middle of Paddra, the three armor clad warriors could see how the massive structure crept into the sky above.

"Just think you guys, we're witnessing history in the making! Isn't it incredible?" Hope was ecstatic. He'd never imagined that he would see something so incredible, like an ancient civilization.

"Eh, hopping through time and seeing this sort of stuff got a bit old when I was doing it." Noel's reply was a lazy one.

"From Etro's temple, I could see everything. This doesn't really evoke any emotion in me."

Hope deflated. "So it's just me then?"

Both Noel and Light spoke in unison. "Yea, pretty much."

"Don't be so mean to Hope, Kupo!" Mog defended the emerald knight, even going so far as to put himself between Hope and the others.

"It's no problem Mog, but thanks." Hope smiled. At least someone remembered that he didn't have the fortune of jumping through time as he pleased or being the chosen champion of a goddess prior to these unfolding events.

"Heeeeey, there you guys are! I've been wondering when you would show up!" Alvaro called out to the knights from his little shop a small distance away. Hearing him, the party went over to greet the man.

"Hey Alvaro, what's up?"

"Well Noel, since you guys are around, I wanted you to come to the foretelling tonight."

"Um, what's a foretelling?" Noel asked.

Alvaro was dumbfounded. Did these people know nothing of Paddra? "A foretelling is an event we have once every few moons. The seeress comes forth and records a prophecy in the oracle drive, which is then shown the the people of Paddra. It's a tradition of ours, and I'd like you to be a part of it. If you don't mind of course."

Before Noel could reply, Hope answered. "You can count on us being there!"

Alvaro smiled. "Well great, see you tonight then! I got a business to run!" He quickly returned to tending to customers.

"I know what you're thinking Noel, but I see it like this. We may get a clue from the seeress's prophecy, and with no direction on what we should be doing, we should follow whatever lead we can get."

Noel relaxed. "You've got a good point. How are we passing time until then though?"

At that very moment, a smile slowly grew in Lightning's face. "I've got an idea you guys."

* * *

"Holy crap, how in Etro's name were we able to afford all of this?" Noel was being crushed by the weight of baggage that he was carrying. Hope walked behind him, not faring any better.

"Don't ask me! Light had all the gil."Hope panted out his response. The two got dragged on the shopping trip from hell. Now, while Lightning wasn't like other women in that she wasn't into buying clothes for the sale of it, she knew how to shop. What did she make Noel and Hope carry? Why all of the potions, ethers, elixirs, and other miscellaneous items for use in battle that the former soldier had thought they needed. To be prepared for any situation of course.

The trip had lasted most of the day, leading into the evening. The sun was now setting, lighting the sky up in a crimson blaze as it did so. The streets thinned of people, which made the trek to the inn just somewhat bearable for the boys.

Finally arriving at their destination, Hope and Noel slowly followed Light into the inn. She paid for two rooms. One for her, and the other for anyone who wasn't her.

Noel and Hope set the luggage down, and took a moment to relax their muscles. Carrying supplies for hours on end really takes its toll on a man after all.

Lightning tossed a key to Hope. With one fluid motion, she grabbed all of the bags and made for her room.

Noel sighed heavily, before seating himself. "Next time, I get to pick how we kill time."

Lightning quickly returned, and beckoned for the group to leave. Thankfully the inn they decided to stay at was located only a block or two away from where the foretellings were held.

A crowd had began to amass at the base of the temple. Hope could faintly make out a throne of some sort atop stairs that led to the entrance. Almost parallel to this, a fal'cie stood. Hope recognized it as the dormant fal'cie that he studied in the ruins of Paddra, hundreds of years from now.

The crowd was teeming with people now. Everyone seemed apprehensive, as if they were worried, no, afraid of what they would see here this evening.

Yeul stepped out from inside the building. At her side were three men. To the left of her were Caius and a man Hope had never seen before. To here right was a tall man, who Hope could only estimate was the seeress's current guardian.

She took her seat on the throne, and the oracle drive reacted. Yeul's eyes glowed faintly for a moment, signaling that she was seeing the future. The oracle drive emulated this glow, soaking in her vision.

The vision was only a brief one. The fal'cie reacted, and began to display what Yeul had seen.

Caius was first to be seen in the image. He was struggling in a battle against a massive dragon of some sort. The scene flashed to him burying someone. The person who it was couldn't be identified. Then, a a strange thing happened.

The vision went black. Slowly, it grew brighter until it looked like the inside some sort of futuristic building. The perspective was a third person one. Caius could be seen again. This time, it was the Caius that Noel knew. The one who would sacrifice the world for Yeul. He drew his massive sword as a person clad in silver armor came into view. The vision ended shortly after this.

The crowd erupted in murmers. Caius was also visibly confused as to why the visions focused on him so heavily.

Noel pulled Hope and Light from the crowd quickly. "Lightning, that looked like you. The armor sort of matched how yours is."

"So wherever we go, at some point Lightning is going to confront Caius in a place in the future. Well, it's not much, but at least it's something. We know now that we'll end up in the future at some point."

"We should rest, and decide how to approach this tomorrow. Once we have clear heads, our choice of action should be easier to determine."

"Yea, good idea Light." Hope agreed with Lightning.

The trio departed for their inn, and for a good night's rest. However, back at the temple. Caius was frantic.

"Verus, what ails her?" He stood, staring at the unmoving form of the seeress.

The man named Verus, who was Yeul's guardian spoke. His tone was one of disappointment. "Nothing ails her, friend. She has departed from us once more."

Caius grimaced. He'd never witnessed death before. Now, looking at Yeul's lifeless body, it stared at him coldly. "Yeul.."

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Remember, don't hesitate to review! I love getting input :D anyways, until next Wednesday, see you guys!**


	8. Chapter 8 : Ballad's Interlude

**Author's Note**

**Good news everyone! In the last week, I've broken 1000 views, with over 750 for the month of August alone! I'm incredibly grateful that I have so many dedicated readers for this story, and your support keeps me inspired and keeps me writing!**

**In other news, a special fan of mine went put of her way to draw a wonderful image of Hope in his knight armor. I'd like to share that picture with you all, so here you go! :D**

** img842_imageshack_us/img842/4168/hopemwynnsknight_jpg  
**

**Just replace the underscores with periods.**

**I hope you all like it as much as I do. Anyways, now onto other stuff! On Saturday square-enix announced Lightning Returns:FFXIII. Am I the only one who sorta freaked when they heard about it? Anyways it's slated for a 2013 release, so if I'm doing my estimate right, I should have this story wrapped up before the release :D**

**You all know who owns what by now. I'm sure you just wanna read the chapter at this point, so lets begin!**

* * *

The funeral for the seeress was over and done with quickly. The city had grown accustomed to the death of the Farseer ruler, and shrugged it off as if it were an everyday occurrence.

Quickly enough, somehow the next reincarnation of the seeress had already been located. A young girl born merely hours after the death of Yeul. She was easily distinguished as her cobalt hair was a huge contrast from the blonde that her parents possessed.

The family the seeress wound up born into may as well have hit the lottery. They were brought to live in the temple in the center of Paddra, and spoilt with luxuries fit for royals.

Now, the new Yeul lay quietly in her bed. Caius uneasily watched the child. He'd only just begun training roughly a year prior. He was a stranger to death. To see someone he had started to know die, and come back in the blink of an eye shook the young man.

His thoughts were disturbed by the clicking of feet on the floor. The man was his mentor, Verus.

"Caius, you know what day it is." Verus cooly told his pupil.

"Yes, I have not forgotten. I am to face another of your pupils today, correct?" The words were empty, indicating his attention was elsewhere.

"Precisely. You know that to be a guardian, you must be strong. Only the strongest earns the right to be the one true guardian."

Such was the law of the guardians. Caius had it repeatedly pounded into his head. For all 23 short years of his life. His path was one of dedication, and he was seen as privileged. All of it was preparation for the training he started receiving a year ago.

One of these battles, however, were the deciding factor in the fate of a guardian to be. The winner would be granted the right to continue training as a guardian.

That wasn't what concerned Caius though. While he had never met the man he would face, he was confident in his own fighting ability. No, what worried him was the fate of the loser. The man who failed to emerge victorious was condemned to death by the hand of his opponent. Caius faltered at the thought. He had never taken a life before, and now he was expected to slay a fellow man for himself.

"I'll be with you shortly Verus. I'd like to at least partake in breakfast before I engage in battle."

The older guardian nodded. "Good, see you at noon." Verus left Caius to his thoughts.

"Why do you have to die, while I am allowed to continue living?" The violet haired warrior sighed through his lament.

* * *

The trio of warriors (and one moogle) wandered through Paddra, led by Noel. Noel took them through the lively streets toward Paddra's center, moving so fast that his companions had trouble weaving through the crowds to keep up.

"So Noel, what's our plan for today?" Hope huffed loud enough for the sapphire clad warrior to hear him.

"We're seeing Alvaro. We need to figure out if there's anything going on." Noel called back, moving forward without slowing his pace

By Noel's lead, the party traveled to their destination in less than an hour by foot. They found the familiar man that helped them yesterday, loading up what seemed like a cart of some sort.

"Hey Alvaro!" Hope called out happily to their friend.

"Ah, Hope, Noel and Lightning. It's a pleasure to see you three again. Come back for more potions?" Alvaro chirped cheerily.

Hope smiled nervously, remembering this as one of the stops Lightning had brought them to during their shopping spree for supplies yesterday.

"Not today. Actually, we were wondering if anything else is going on in the city. We thought we might as well sight see a little before we move on." Noel cleverly disguised their actual reason as he spoke in his usual even tone.

"Well, there's actually some big thing going on today. Something about the guardians having a match to decide the next successor."

That sounded important enough in Noel's opinion. He thanked the man, and the group attempted to find the area they met Caius in during the previous day. Noel followed what seemed like a congregation of civilians all headed to the same location. Sure enough, they were at the fields again. Lightning took the lead, and helped her companions weave through the crowd, quickly bringing them right in front of the action.

Before them stood Caius, and another tall, well built man.

* * *

Caius now faced his opponent. Judging by his stature, the fight should be a challenging one for him.

"What is your name, my friend? I am Caius." The formality seemed to surprise the warrior. He spoke in a guarded tone. "My name is Devoveo. Devoveo Ballad. The man who shall defeat you, and become guardian to the seeress."

Caius grinned. This man had much confidence to speak so highly of himself. Then again, their lives were on the line here. Confidence in oneself was a must.

Caius drew his weapon, and his opponent repeated the action. In the crowd, Caius could vaguely make out the strangers from yesterday watching him.

_What are they doing here?_

His time to think was cut short, as Devoveo rushed at Caius, with his sword aimed right for him. Caius broke from his thoughts in time to parry the blow, and retaliate with one of his own.

His foe was skilled, possessing reflexes on par with Caius's. Each swing was either dodged or expertly parried, Caius couldn't even lay a finger on him. Tides quickly shifted when Devoveo went on the offensive. Caius struggled to maintain his ground, and his breath grew short.

The sheer skill this warrior possessed was nothing to be trifled with. Caius blocked another life threatening blow, the sound of steel on steel echoing through his very being.

Slowly, Caius was worn down. Sweat coated his face, glistening as the sunlight struck it. Devoveo lashed out horizontally, and Caius attempted to avoid it by back-stepping. He lost his balance from the sudden movement and fell to his back. The sword he wielded was just out of reach.

Time stopped for a moment. The crowds became still, and their voices grew hushed, leaving Caius's heartbeat as the only sound his ears could register. Sweat ran down his face as he prepared for what would happen next. Devoveo loomed above him, prepared to deal the killing blow.

"Stop!" A man's voice broke the tension, and silence of the moment.

Caius tilted his head sideways to see that Verus was the one who shouted out.

"Verus, this is a fate I have accepted. I accepted it the moment I became a L'cie to serve Yeul. Don't deny me an honorable death my friend."

Verus scoffed at the warrior's assumption. "You fool! That's not why this must stop! We're being invaded! The Oerbans are here trying to kidnap the seeress!"

Devoveo resheathed his sword, and offered Caius a hand. "We can finish this later. The safety of the seeress comes first, right?"

Caius accepted his aid, and lifted himself to his feet. "This is truly a trick of the goddess." He grabbed Ragnarok, his gigantic sword, and rested it on his back. "Let's go."

* * *

The forces of Paddra assembled in a flash. The civilians were being rounded up and kept away from the fighting, and a frontline had been established. Caius was amongst the warriors at the forefront of the battle. The trio of knights decided it would be best to aid the Paddrans and also joined the fray.

Lightning put many of the enemy soldiers to shame with her unmatched speed. Her blade swept across with quick and clean slashes, facing no resistance as she cut down anyone that dared challenge her. She eventually found herself back-to-back with Caius, surrounded by several Oerban soldiers.

"You fight well. Perhaps one day we should have a battle. I would enjoy it very much." Caius said,unblinking as he sized up the foe's he faced.

Lightning deadpanned. "Careful what you wish for."

Without another word, the fated rivals broke apart, and began their attack.

Meanwhile, Noel and Hope worked together to disable as many soldiers as possible. Both young men had an aversion to killing, and wanted to save life rather than end it. Hope worked hard, casting several cure spells to kept himself and Noel in good condition, as his sapphire-clad companion used several saboteur spells to weaken or even neutralize the enemy.

Slowly, the warriors were being driven back. The size of the opposing army was too great. Caius would eliminate one man, only for more to replace him. The fight was taking its toll, and Caius began to slow down. He was outnumbered. He raised his sword and prepared to resist until the end. Suddenly, men began falling quickly. Eventually, he could see the figures of Verus and Devoveo. The latter cut a path toward Caius.

"Are you injured?

"No, just a bit winded. I'll be fine." Caius hid his exhaustion from the man. Suddenly, Devoveo's eyes widened, and he choked on the air he'd been breathing. Steel now protruded from the man's chest, directly where his heart was located. With one last gasp of breath, he coughed blood, and collapsed to the ground. An Oerban stood above the man triumphantly, mocking the man he'd just killed.

"No..." Caius gasped in disbelief. Now with newfound energy, he raised his weapon, fueled by his rage, and he cleaved the man who had stabbed Devoveo into two halves.

"Caius." Devoveo barely clung to life. The words came out shakily, and begged the Caius's attention. "Live. You must protect her. Protect the seeress."

"You have my word. Your death shall not be a vain one." Caius was resolute. Relieved by the promise made to him, Devoveo slipped away into death's embrace.

Caius roared. Hefting Ragnarok into his grasp, he launched himself at the nearest foe he could find. His rage decimated the man, who never saw his demise coming.

_There are still too many. There's only one way that I can push them back._

A large circle emanated from the guardian to be. It radiated a purple light, and repelled anyone who attempted to approach Caius.

Verus observed what his pupil planned to do. He raised his voice in objection. "Caius, no! You'll perish if you do!"

"Do not stop me Verus! This is the only way. The seeress must not be harmed, and Devoveo shall be avenged!" He words grew into a cry of agony. His body twisted and contorted in a black mist. When the mist had cleared, all that remained was a dragon colored the darkest shade of black.

Everyone stilled. They stared either in awe or in fear of the beast they were witnessing. Chaos Bahamut let out a bellowing roar, and began to lay waste to the Oerban forces.

Breathing cursed black flames, he incinerated hundreds of men. His claws precisely sliced through their targets. The rampage lasted several minutes, until the warriors began to retreat. When the carnage came to a decisive end, Caius howled in triumph.

* * *

Rain fell from the sky, as it cried out in sorrow over the bloodshed that took place on this day. The once grassy green land and mountainsides were now glistening blood red. The scent in the air stunk of steel, blood and flesh that already had begun decaying.

Lightning, Hope and Noel were working as medics, tending to the wounded who were still lucky to have their lives.

Bahamut vanished in a wisp of smoke, depositing the body of Caius on the ground. Seeing this, Verus rushed to the side of his pupil, praying to Etro for the man's life.

"Caius? Caius Validus, speak to me!" Verus's plea came out weakly.

The violet haired warrior didn't answer with words. Instead, his heart glowed a dark purple, flashing and fading as it pumped blood through his veins. Caius began to stir, his eyes opened and get groaned. Regaining control of his motor functions, he sat upwards, as Verus watched in awe.

"Caius... You're alive! But.. It shouldn't be possible. An incarnate summoning joins the summoner with the Eidolon. You should be trapped as a dragon for the remainder of your life..." His last words were ones of confusion rather than relief.

Caius looked his friend straight in the eye, and spoke. "Verus. I have seen her." His words were lacking in emotion, yet brimmed with wonder at the same time.

"Who did you see? Yeul? But she's been reincarnated already."

"No, not Yeul. I saw the goddess. I've seen Etro."

The group finally planned on leaving after their extended stay in Paddra. They approached the city limits when a voice called out to them. "Wait."

Caius and Verus both ran towards the party. "We wanted the chance to thank you for your help in the battle, as well as for your medical help. Many lives would have been lost if it weren't for you three." Verus and Caius bowed to show how deep their appreciation ran.

Hope smiled. "It's no problem. So, looks like Caius Validus is going to be the next guardian after all."

Caius's expression was unreadable. He was quite for a moment, finding the words he wished to speak. "Wrong. Caius Validus is dead now. In honor of the fallen warrior that risked his life for his people, Caius Ballad shall protect the seeress until his dying breath."

_If only he knew how true that oath would end up being._

Lightning nudged Hope gently. "Come on we need to get going. It's about time we leave anyways."

The trio of knights waved as they departed through the valley of the Yaschas Massif. They soon found a time gate and once again stepped into the flow of eternity.

* * *

_Annals of the Fragments_

_III. Gerhilde's Blossom_

_Eidolons are beasts that dwell in Valhalla. L'cie chosen by Etro are pitted against eidolons in a trial by combat. Those who emerge victorious recieve a crystal called "eidolith" which they may use to summon the beast to fight at their side._

_The weak must obey the strong. This is the invincible law of Valhalla. Like any other denizen of the unseen realm. Eidolons are bound to answer every call of their master._

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**So what do you all think so far? Not bad eh? Though giving Caius some backstory and going into his origins was much needed, so I hope you allenjoyed it so far!**

**I've been getting a fair amount of favorites and follows recently. Not to sound greedy, but I hope I get more. It's great to recieve an email like "_ has added you story to his/her favorites."**

**Reviews are wonderful too! :D anyways, I'll be back next weekswitch another weekly update!**


	9. Chapter 9 : Meeting the Wroth God

**Author's Note:**

**I apologize in advance for the short chapter everyone. It was anincredibly busy week, and I literally finished this an hour ago to make my weekly deadline. I may have missed a few errors here and there, but they should be fixed by the end of the day, so bear with me please.**

**Anyways, here's chapter 9. You know who owns what, I hope you all enjoy it.**

* * *

_Annals of the Fragments_

_VII. Mirror of Atropos_

_This is the prophecy as told by Atropos, messenger of the heavens._

_The Thirteenth Ark is the fortress that protects the heavenly vault. When the heroes gather unto mighty Pulse to do battle in the war that must be fought, this shall be the stronghold. Know now and remember that the Ark shall be the salvation of all Pulse's children._

* * *

"The preparations have been made, and the wheels have been set in motion. You've done well, Caius."

Caius stood before a throne. Resting on it was a large man. His blonde hair was a powerful contrast to the room which seemed devoid of color. His clothing was regal, and almost elegant. If not for the black tint of darkness staining them, they would have been worthy of a king.

"Everything is as you requested. When shall you resurrect Yeul?" Caius asked the man, as he kneeled before him. "Do not forget, Bhunivelze. You and I have an agreement. We sealed that agreement when you granted me the powers of a dark knight."

Bhunivelze frowned, displeased with the manner in which he was being addressed."Don't forget your place. I am a god and you shall address me with the utmost respect. It's not really all much that I'm asking of a very capable man such as yourself." Bhunivelze laughed at his own remark. "As for the girl, I shall revive her when all is well and done. No sooner than that, understood?"

Caius clenched his teeth together in an effort to retain his composure. Having no control over the situation was something he absolutely despised. Bhunivelze knew that and purposely taunted him with it.

"Yes, my liege." Caius stood and turned, releasing the scowl he'd been holding. Finally, he left the room before he was made to endure more.

* * *

"Mog, any idea where we are?" Noel and company gazed upwards. The time gate led them to a time where it was currently dark out. The ground was cold and the group could see the stars sprinkled across the sky, almost near enough to be grabbed in Noel's hand.

"Kupo... This doesn't feel right." The little moogle looked around nervously, backing into Hope and nearly jumping out of his own skin when he made contact with the emerald knight's breastplate. "I don't think there are any people here kupo."

Lightning's skin crawled. She could sense a familiar presence somewhere in this era. The aura was powerful, only one person possessed such an air about them. "Stay on your toes you two. I have a feeling that Caius is in this time."

"This far back? I know the guy is immortal, but he doesn't have the ability to travel through time, right? I mean, the only reason Serah and I met him so many times was because he could live forever." Noel pondered to himself how it could be possible for Caius to have followed them to this time, whenever they were anyways.

"It'd be best if we were cautious anyways. Even if Caius isn't here, we don't know what else might be."

Mog's bobble began to glimmer and tingle, shaking violently in reaction to something. "O-over here guys! Follow me kupo!" Mog was off in a split second, chasing some unknown source that sparked the movement of the bobble on his head.

The group chased after the moogle, not wanting to leave him alone in an unfamiliar era. Their chase led them to a small building. The building was the only thing in sight aside from the sea of stars overhead. Mog stopped outside of the small temple and started to shudder. "I can feel it kupo. Something's in there."

"How very observant of you." A deep voice called out from inside. From the shadows of the entrance, the starlight shimmered and reflected off a suit of armor darker than black. The armor was the color of darkness and death itself. "You three have done well to find yourselves here. However, I'm afraid I cannot allow you to proceed further."

Caius drew Ragnarok and entered his fighting stance. This Caius was not the man the group had begun to know. This man was one who would gladly kill to save Yeul, and was driven completely by his devotion to her. A man with over a millennia of wisdom at his disposal.

"Noel, Hope. When you see an opening, I want you two to go in ahead of me. I've got some unfinished business with him." Lightning drew her gunblade as Hope and Noel readied their own weapons.

Noel lunged at his former mentor with pure ferocity. Caius wasn't intimidated though, and easily avoided the anger driven assault. "Noel, where have your skills gone? I'm sure I'd taught you better than that." Caius barely finished taunting his apprentice before he turned to deflect several magic imbued bullets fired from Hope's gunblade.

The knights slowly formed a triangle around the dark knight, surrounding him and attacking from all sides. Caius still kept up, managing to keep all three of his opponents at bay, slashing and lobbing magic precisely as he needed to. Finally, Lightning rushed forward and locked blades with him.

"Go now!" Light roared as she attempted to exert more pressure on Caius, giving Hope and Noel time to enter the building nearby. Hope shot a concerned look towards Lightning before disappearing with Noel into the structure.

"This certainly seems familiar. Just like the hundreds of times we were face to face like this before." Caius smirked, eying the warrior before him.

"Just like every other time I kicked your ass!" She charged at him, unloading a clip of bullets as she did so. Caius raised Ragnarok in front of him to shield himself from the assault.

Lightning's heart raced with a speed comparable to her actual movement. Changing her weapon from gun to sword mode, she swung at Caius. She quickly fell into the rhythm of a sword fight. Her deft slashes were paralleled by the skill of her opponents.

She stumbled once, throwing off her rhythm, and allowing Caius a brief opening. Taking advantage of this, he quickly unloaded a powerful string of slashes at the knight, following it up with a blast of dark magic. The attack launched Light back several feet, throwing her to the ground.

She groaned in pain from the impact, and picked herself up as quickly as possible. Now a fair distance away from her adversary, she cautiously awaited his next move as she took a moment to catch her breath.

"Former warrior of Etro, your skills have grown soft along with your heart. Surely you can do better."

Caius's comment struck a nerve. Lightning prepared to launch herself at him. "At least I have a heart! Unlike the man who doomed millions of lives!" She quickly cast a Curaga spell on herself before barreling towards Caius.

His blade clashed with hers once more. The sound resonating throughout the area. "It is no different from Etro damning hundreds of Yeul's from dying before they could even truly live! To have the same person you wish to protect ripped from you infinitely without end, you cannot understand that pain!"

Even amidst the heat of battle, Lightning still felt a bit of pity for the warrior. He certainly wasn't bad at heart, she could tell that much when they had first met him in Paddra. He's only trying to end his suffering. Regardless, he was directly responsible for Serah's death. That was something she could not forgive.

In one swift motion, Lightning caught Caius's weapon with her own. With a flick of her wrist, she disarmed him, as she loosed a ruinga spell into his chest. The resulting force sent Caius flying into the wall of the building.

Running over to Caius, Lightning observed that he was unconscious. "Good enough for now. Time to catch up to Hope and Noel."

* * *

Hope and Noel felt the building shake and what sounded like a crash echoed throughout the walls.

"Well that sounded like it hurt." Noel quipped.

Hope laughed lightly. "Knowing her, it did."

The two were being guided through the building by Mog. He was guiding them upwards, and through the corridors. Many murals decorated the walls, not unlike the ones they saw in Etro's shrine back in Valhalla.

The passageways were lit by torches, which were hosts to blue flames, which barely illuminated the hallways.

"It's right through here kupo.." Mog nervously pointed at a double door. Whatever was on the other side was making Mog feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Well, let's do this then. Ready Hope?" Noel gripped the handle on the door and opened it. The two knights readied themselves for what may have awaited them. The only thing that greeted them was a man in black robes atop a throne of sorts.

_He must be what Mog was reacting to. He's just a guy though, right?_

"Ah, finally come around to giving me a visit I see. Welcome Hope and Noel. Chosen warriors of the _almighty_ Mwynn." His tone was playful, and almost relaxing. "You know, I really was wondering when you three were gonna show up. Speaking of three, isn't the knight of my "daughter" supposed to be with you two?

"Knight of your daughter? You mean Etro?" Noel asked.

"Ah yes, Etro. That sad pitiful excuse for a deity. The poor thing took her own life just because she was sad about not having any special powers. " His tone grew more malicious at the mention of Etro. "Then there's you two. I always knew mother would have left some sort of curse in this world after I killed her. Not once did I imagine she'd place that power within mere _mortals_." His tone soured when he said "Mortals".

"Mywnn? You're the one who killed her?!" Hope asked in disbelief.

"Oh of course I did. This world had oh so very much potential. She squandered every ounce of those possibilities with her coddling of you humans. So I did what needed to be done. I killed her with my very own hands, and would go on recreate the world in an image of perfection. However, something was amiss. I was sure of it. In her final moments she placed some sort of curse on the world of the living. One that would strip me of my immortality and rob me of my life."

"That's enough out of you." Lightning's voice sounded from the entrance to the room. "You sound like a spoiled brat, and you need to be put in your place." She fired at Bhunivelze, but the bullets stopped in midair right before him.

"Uh, no. That's not gonna work on me missy. What part about "I'm a god." did you not quite understand? It'll take a bit more than a few bullets to bring me down."

"Enough of this! What'd you do to Caius?" Noel asked the god.

Bhunivelze thought for a moment, trying to remember who Noel was talking about. "Ohhhhh. You mean dark, purple and depressing? I didn't do anything to him. In fact, he willingly decided to come work for me. It was too easy I tell you. All I had to do was promise to revive that pretty little girl he cares about so much. A simple lie was all it took to win him over."

Lightning smirked knowingly. "You know, you talk too much. That's a pretty bad habit for one in your line of work."

"Who are you to judge that?" He asked, humoring Lightning.

Lightning turned to look behind her. "Hey Caius, how much of that did you hear?

For a moment, Bhunivelze's face grew pale. The warmth and color drained when a man in a suit of black armor walked into the chamber where they all stood.

Caius's eyes glowed with power and rage. "I shall make you pay for this. Mark my words Bhunivelze, your end will be by wrought by my blade!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I hope you guys like my Bhunivelze. I tried to write him as witty and condescending. With a touch of crazy in there xD **

**Please tell me what you think. I hope the chapter wasn't a total let down, and I'll probably have a revised version up by Saturday.**

**Edit : I actually just finished revising it. Caught a few more errors and added a few sentences and words here and there.**


	10. Chapter 10 :The Ballad's Crescendo

**Author's Note:**

**First and foremost. I am so so so so very sorry for having not uploaded last week. Lots of things were going on ( including my 18th birthday ) and I just never found the time to finish writing this chapter. I hope you can all forgive me on that account.**

**Secondly, as I upload this, I see that this story has had 786 hits for this month alone so far! That's a fantastically large number that surprises me considering I missed an upload last week. At the beginning of the month I had a goal to break 1000 hits on this story in a single month. Here we are with 4 days left in September. I'd like to ask you all a favor. If you know any FFXIII/-2 fans recommend them to this story. I'd love for that goal to be met, and its definitely possible!**

**Thirdly, I hope you're all enjoying the story! Seriously, I do. I don't write for my own health xD I write to entertain! Speaking of entertaining, lets begin the next chapter!**

**You all know what I do and don't own. I honestly don't think I'll put these disclaimers anymore. I don't feel a need to.**

* * *

Lightning smirked knowingly. "You know, you talk too much. That's a pretty bad habit for one in your line of work."

"Who are you to judge that, Pinkie?"

Lightning turned to look behind her. "Hey Caius, how much of that did you hear?

For a moment, Bhunivelze's face grew pale. The warmth and color drained when a man in a suit of black armor walked into the chamber where they all stood.

Caius's eyes glowed with power and rage. "I shall make you pay for this. Mark my words Bhunivelze, your end will be by wrought by my blade!"

"Oh damn you Pinkie! You see what you've gone and done?" Bhunivelze snapped. Caius was seething as he glared the god he was serving until just moments ago.

"You shall repay your wrongdoings tenfold, Bhunivelze!" The knight in black lunged at his target.

Bhunivelze stopped his ranting when he realized he was the target of Caius's attack. "Whoa, now hold on a moment, eh Caius. We're reasonable immortals here, aren't we?" Seeing that his attempt at reaching the man was a vain one, he began gathering energy in his palm. "Alright fine, but don't say I didn't try to talk it out!" He loosed the stored power and aimed it straight for Caius.

"Caius, look out!" Noel reacted quickly, even just after being shaken from his stupor. He barrelled into his mentor, bringing them both to the ground and out of harms way.

Lighting fired some shots, all of which didn't even reach their mark, instead, they seemingly curved past Bhunivelze.

"He's too powerful for us to handle right now. We need to fall back and rethink our strategy." Hope called out as he unleashed a water spell on Bhunivelze, soaking him.

"HEY! WHO IN MY NAME DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? THESE ROBES ARE GONNA SHRINK NOW!" Bhunivelze was loudly yelling as he realized that his "guests" had left him alone.

"Come, this way!" Caius led the trio out of the building with the quickest route he knew of. The knights were out in a matter of mere minutes.

"Look! It's a time gate!" Noel shouted out to his companions at the sight of the portal. They made a break for it, desperately trying to escape the god tailing them.

"Come back! I'm not gonna hurt you! I only plan to skin your hides and use em as pretty new robes!" Bhunivelze spoke innocently at first, with his voice becoming nearly psychotic sounding with the last statement. He charged more energy in his hands as he pursued the knights.

Finally reaching the gate, Noel activated it quickly. "Come on, bring us somewhere safe!" They all leapt into the timeline, leaving Bhunivelze behind.

Bhunivelze reached the gate in time to see Lightning entire the gate last. "Oh me damnit! Talk about a tease. I wanted to have some fuun. What good is having fantastic cosmic powers if you can't rip a few humans limb from limb..." He sounded almost crestfallen. "Oh well. At least purple man did the job I needed. This doesn't set things back too far, ha!" Bhunivelze laughed loudly to himself.

* * *

"Hello, and welcome to Serendipity!"

The knights found themselves in the casino that sat between life and death, between time and timelessness. They were greeted by one of the bubbly women who worked for this casino that was unbound by the laws of time.

"Serendipity? Never thought I'd see this place again."

"You've been here before, Noel?" Hope asked his friend.

The sapphire knight nodded. "Time flows differently here. Actually, I'm not even sure time flows here at all. This place doesn't exactly exist anywhere on the timeline that I know of. We can take a breather here. It should be good for us."

"It seems the baggage we picked up could use some time to himself." Lightning said, referring to Caius.

The man grunted with dissatisfaction when he was mentioned, and walked off into the casino.

"Well in any case, while we're here there's somebody I wanna pay a visit to. Take these you two." Noel handed Hope and Light a bag filled with coins. "It's not a whole lot, but you two should be able to have some fun with what I gave you." With that, Noel also vanished into the crowds, headed for a small shrine type building.

Hope opened his bag, and was surprised with just how many coins rested within. "Not a whole lot? He gave us at least a thousand coins each! What does he expect us to do with all of this?"

"To gamble of course. What else would we do?" Lightning said matter-of-factly. "I could use a little R&R. Let's hit the roulette first."

* * *

A silver ball rolled around the wheel. I moved quickly at first, but then slowly lurched to a stop, trying to pick the best place to rest. Finally, the ball decided on its resting place, finding solace in the pocket labeled "13".

"Did I really win?" Hope's voice sounded more confused than excited.

"Hope, you just got the highest possible payout. On your fifth try."

"Yea! If that was me I'd be preeeety excited kupo."

Hope was startled by Mog's sudden appearance. "Mog, I completely forgot you were here."

"Everyone always does, kupo..."

Distressed by his poor choice of words, Hope quickly attempted to consoled the moogle. "No no, that's not what I meant! I mean I forgot that you were here because you're always so quiet nowadays."

"You know, for someone who pretty much just hit the jackpot, you don't seem all too excited."

"Wait, just how much did I win?" Hope didn't quite understand the significance of his luck.

Light sighed, and face palmed. "Roughly thirty two times the amount of coins you wagered."

"Wait a minute.. I wagered five hundred coins so that's... Oh my god!" Hope gasped at the size of the number once he did the math in his head. "Not too bad for my first try time then, right?" Hope attempted to hide his surprise under a veil of coolness.

"This is your first time gambling? No wonder you're doing so well. Beginner's luck at its finest." They both laughed. "Just don't waste all these winnings. I think you should stop while you're ahead." Light pulled Hope away from the roulette, dragging him by his arm.

* * *

Noel sat in a chamber. The room had a holy aura about it, emitting a divine feeling. The only other person in the room was a woman in a chocobo suit.

"Is there anything you know that may be able to give us a lead? When we would visit before, you were able to give Mog some abilities that were incredibly useful and greatly reduced the difficulty of our travels."

The Mystic of Serendipity frowned as she nodded. "I know very little of the current happenings in the universe. As of late I cannot hear the cosmos. This troubles me greatly, but I cannot act as I am bound to this place."

"How about Bhunivelze? He's a god we've come across recently. Maybe you know something about him?" Noel asked as he scratched the back of his head.

"He is in eternal pursuit of the gate. The doorway that bridges this world and the next. According to myths, he entered crystal slumber until the dawn of the day the gate is found by his faithful servants Pulse and Lindzei. His awakening can only mean that the gate has been found. What he intends to do with it, I cannot ascertain."

Satisfied with the information, Noel stood up to leave. "Wait. Before you depart, know this. If Bhunivelze is slain, the remaining balance of the world will disappear completely, and existence as you know it shall fall to oblivion."

"Well how exactly can we stop it then? If we defeat him only for the world to end then we won't get anywhere."

She frowned. "I know of a way."

* * *

Caius sat alone in the stands of the chocobo races. His eyes wearily watched the chocobos as they galloped, attempting to outpace one another to the finish line.

He envied these creatures, leading such simple yet satisfying lives. All he had to endure his entire life was death and manipulation. Twice now he had played the fool to a god, and now Yeul was gone for good.

"I had only wished for her to lead a full life. She truly deserved that much." He spoke to himself in a whisper. There was only one choice left to him now. He would take revenge on the god that used him. While he was certain they wouldn't mind him along, Caius felt uneasy about joining the other three knights.

He was the root of many of their troubles after all. He indirectly killed Lightning's sister, abandoned Noel in the future and destroyed hope in the world the one known as Hope worked so hard to create.

Thinking of his actions caused him to feel sick like he never had before. He had acted so rashly in his venture to free Yeul. Such selfishness was very unbecoming of himself.

"What have I been doing.." Nausea overtook him, and he vomited.

* * *

"Who knew gambling could be so relaxing?" Hope sat sprawled out on a bench beside Lightning, to his right was a bag containing his winnings from his brief stay in Serendipity.

"Keep winning like that and you may just drive them out of business." Lightning teased. The cheery music of Serendipity bolstering their mood as both she and Hope laughed.

"Doesn't this take you back, you and me alone I mean? I remember all those years ago when we both took on the Gapra Whitewood. I was still just a boy then." Hope stated up as he recalled when Lightning handed him her knife. That was probably the most defining moment of his lifetime. Being handed a chance at revenge, and then managing to overcome his vengeful desires.

"Yup, but you've changed since then. The boy I once knew is all grown up now." Lightning smiled.

Hope's cheeks tinted red. "Hey, I didn't have much choice. When you and Snow vanished, I didn't have very many people around to rely on for support. I wanted all of you to come back. It's the whole reason I worked so hard to become director of the Academy. I wanted a chance to see everyone one more time. It never was a matter of can or can't. I did all of those things no matter what."

"After all this time you've still got that engrained in your head huh? You learn pretty well, for a kid that is." They both laughed at her joke. Without realizing it, the two of them had gotten much closer on the bench they sat on, and their faces were extremely close.

"Hey! Hope, Lightning, I've got a lead!" Noel shouted out to the pair. Realizing the position the two of them were in, they hastily backed away from one another, each praying to whatever good god still alive that they hadn't been seen.

_What was that? We were so close. If Noel hadn't interrupted we might have..._

Hope's face was nearly as red as a flan at the thought.

"What did you learn?" Lightning, now back to her usual stoic self sat upright, having seemingly forgotten the moment she shared with Hope moments ago.

"Well, apparently Bhunivelze is the a god searching for some sort of gate or door to the unseen world. Sound at all familiar?"

"Too familiar. When we were l'cie we had to fight a fal'cie named Barthandalus who was trying to kill millions to open a door like that. You're telling me Bhunivelze plans on murdering enough people to open this gateway?" Lightning recalled the battles with the fal'cie as she talked, and the number of lives needed to be taken in order for the door to even be opened wide enough for the intentions of someone trying to enter it.

"We can't waste anymore time. We've got to stop him!" Hope stood and spoke resolutely.

"I shall aid you in your endeavor." A fourth voice made itself heard amongst the conversation. Caius walked over to the group. "I cannot forgive that wretched god for how he has taken advantage of me." Caius turned to Noel. "The information you've gathered is true. I can verify it as such."

"Now we just need to figure out where he would target." Hope thought aloud.

Caius frowned. "He's chosen the one time with a population undoubtedly large enough to fulfill his sacrificial needs, while offering the perfect chance to destroy everything in one fell swoop. He intends to strike the city of Academia in 510AF. There's going to be an eclipse in that era. Every world in our solar system with be perfectly aligned as will your new Cocoon, hope. He's going to bring down that Cocoon with a powerful gravity spell."

The other's faces drained of color. In that time hundred of millions of people lived in both Academia and the Cocoon Hope had built.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? We don't exactly have time to spare." Noel spotted something glowing appear near the entrance. "How convenient. Look like our ride out just showed up."

The time gate glowed differently than the other ones seen. This one emitted a silver light instead of the golden color Noel had grown used to seeing.

"Are you sure about coming along Caius?" Lightning asked the onyx clad warrior.

"You would turn me away?" He asked almost mockingly.

Lightning's expression was unreadable. "Just making sure is all."

The quartet of knights each entered the time gate, and were enveloped by its warm light, sending them off into a new era.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and that it was worth the wait. I'm definitely gonna try to stay on top of my writing better so that I don't have a repeats of last week. **

**I wanna know what YOU think is gonna happen next, or just what you think of everything so far. Leave a review with your thoughts. You have no idea how excited I get when I get a little notification saying I recieved one xD **


	11. Chapter 11: Obscurum Fio Lux Lucis I

**Author's Note:**

**Good news everyone! Thanks to the support from all of you amazing reader, two things happened over the last week.**

**Firstly, I managed to break 1000 views in an entire month, as a matter of fact, managed over 350 views in four days, with one day having a record breaking total of views at 116.**

**Secondly, I managed to break 2000 views on this story of all time. This happened shortly after breaking the 1000 in a month.**

**Anyways we're less than two weeks away from the NYC Comic Con. I'm so excited to be going and if any of my readers are attending, let me know. Maybe we can hang out, I would love to meet the people who keep inspiring me to write.**

**As thanks for the awesome week, I decided to make this chapter slightly longer than most others. I also actually managed to finish to finish this chapter before today xD I'm improving with my procrastination now!**

**Sorry for the long author's note, one more thing and I'll shut up, I promise xD**

**Things get interesting in their chapter. You'll see what I mean when you all read it. All dis shiz belongs to square-enix, etc etc. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

A gentle breeze rolled through the air. Leaves rustled gently, breaking the silence as they did so.

The ocean's waves roared, joining the other sounds. Noel looked out to the ocean, scanning the horizon for something. He stood atop a cliff where the time gate had led the group.

"Have you sighted anything yet?" The inquisition came from Caius.

Noel looked more. Looking down the shoreline he saw a conglomerate of small buildings. "I think there's a village or something down the shore. Maybe we should check it out."

"Come then, we shall regroup with the others."

Noel nodded. Their group had split up to cover more ground. He didn't think it were a good idea to leave Lightning alone with Caius. Noel was sure that she still had plenty of reasons to try slugging his mentor, and it would have been just plain awkward for Hope if he went alone with Caius, so Noel decided to volunteer himself to do it.

Not a single complaint was heard.

Caius seemed on edge as well. Something was definitely off with the normally cool and collected man.

"Hey Caius, is something on your mind?"

Caius turned to Noel, locking eyes before turning back around and proceeding onward.

_How social of him._

* * *

"Hey Hope, I think we should head back now."

"Right. Doesn't look like there's anything around here anyways. Maybe Noel and Caius had some luck."

The two were in some woods. Hope had been marking their path by lightly burning the bark on trees with weak fire spells.

The pink haired warrior stopped. She had heard movement from somewhere. They weren't alone.

"Hope look out!" She yelled out to her friend. He was confused at first, but soon understood what was happening when he was thrown to the ground. Looming above him was a silver lobo.

The beast snapped at him, and Hope barely had time to raise his wrist in front of his face to shield himself. The monster's teeth clenched around the emerald green steel, attempting to rip a chuck from it but to no avail.

One shot was all it took. The bullet from Lightning's gunblade lodged itself in the skull of the silver lobo, killing it. Hope opened his eyes slowly, having shut them when he heard the sound he Lightning shooting.

He pushed the corpse off of himself, and accepted a hand offered by Light to get back on his feet. "That should teach them not to mess with me."

Lightning raised an eyebrow. "How did you teach anything to not mess with you? I'm the one that shot it."

"Yea, because it messed with me." said Hope.

Both knights laughed. "Come on kid, we should get going now."

Hope pouted. "Who are you calling a kid? If I recall correctly you were twenty one when we met, and Valhalla doesn't age you, so I'm actually older than you."

"Fine. Just get moving then, old man." Light led the way back through the wood, with a slightly disheartened Hope in tow.

* * *

When the pair arrived back at the clearing where the time gate was, they found that Noel and Caius were already waiting for them.

"Light and I didn't have much luck. All we found were some hungry monsters. How about you two?"

"I spotted what looks like a village from the side of a cliff. Looks like its no more than an hour or so away by foot."

Lightning spoke. "Looks like we've found our destination then. Noel, you take the lead." Noel took point and lead the party in the direction of the village he spotted.

The trip there was a quiet one. Noel said nothing as he led the group, with Lightning and Hope following closely behind.

Caius was the most removed from the party. He followed from a short distance, not getting too close to the group.

"I just don't belong in with these three." Caius thought to himself. "My heart is stained black like my armor, which greatly contrasts the noble goals of these three."

"Hey Caius." Noel's voice snapped Caius out of his thoughts. The dark knight scowled. He disliked showing others that something was distressing him. His weaknesses best lay unseen. "Try to catch up a little. We'll all get separated at this rate."

"Hmph." Caius quickened his pace.

_Why could we not have taken that portal straight to the intended destination? I do not enjoy this extended trip with my former foes._

The group reached the end of the woods and could now see clearly what laid in front of them.

"There, that's the village." Noel chimed.

* * *

The settlement was a quiet one. There were plenty of people, but overall it had nowhere near the noise of some places the group had gotten used to.

The four knights received stares from all over, followed by whispers coming from the villagers.

Everyone was dressed differently than Noel had ever seen. The women donned a white robe which concealed almost the entirety of their bodies, and the men (or those he assumed were men at least.) wore robes of solid blue and a brown hat on their head. Oddly enough their faces were shrouded totally in black.

"What do you think they're talking about?"

Noel looked at his friend, sighing. "I'm pretty sure it's us. Incase they haven't made it completely obvious we don't quite fit in with them. We're like flan in a group of chocobos."

They were approached by several people, and eventually surrounded. "Come with us, outsiders." Lightning signaled to everyone not to resist, having no desire to start a pointless quarrel with these people.

Everyone was led into a tower, and into a chamber with an altar. Before the altar a man knelt, praying. Finished with his prayer, he stood, and turned towards the group. "Hello travelers. I apologize for the manner of which you were brought here." The mages surrounding the group dispersed, understanding that their assistance was no longer needed. "I am the elder of this village. What brings you to our home?"

"We seek a portal. It's one that links this location to another. As I'm sure you've noticed, we're not from here. Truth is, we're travelers of the timeline." Noel finished speaking. He was surprised to see the elder was completely accepting of his answer.

"Ah I see. This makes sense. You see, we've observed a great upset in the balance of the world lately. It seems that once more there is a looming danger threatening the lives of many."

"Once more? You mean that this has happened before? Hope asked.

The village elder nodded. "Not now of course, but it has. We are handed down a great many prophecies, spanning over generations. The story of the hero of the moon, or of the rebel youths that saved a kingdom. Among these tales is one of time travelers, such as yourselves. Tell me, what do you know?"

Noel was prepared to speak, but his words were cut off by Caius's. "We know who our enemy is. He is a wicked god with malicious intentions. He hesitates not to use people as tools for achieving his goals." Caius's tone betrayed his negative feeling toward the subject.

"You intend to confront this god?" The elder asked Caius, raising an eyebrow.

"I must. I am one of those he used. He tempted me and I was seduced by my own selfish desires, and caused me to sink into evil."

Noel's jaws parted slightly in astonishment. Had Caius actually been holding all of this in? Now it was clear to the sapphire clad young man. Caius wore his guilt quietly, because he didn't want to be vulnerable.

"Your three companions have noble intent in their quest to rid the world of this "Bhunivelze". You, however..." The older man sighed. "Your resolve is strong, that much is certain. However, you won't be able to defeat him. Not as you are. Of that much I am certain."

His words stung. Not willing to show this, Caius replied. "What do you know of my power, old man? You know nothing of me."

"I know plenty, your armor is black like your soul. While it may no longer be your true color, it's taint lingers. Your anger and hatred won't give you the strength you need to win. Neither will that sword born from darkness. You must purify yourself, and rid yourself of your negative emotions."

Caius released the tension he wasn't even aware he was holding in his body. His shoulders relaxed, and his glare softened. His tone became lighter as he spoke next. "How would I go about doing this?

"To the east. There lies a mountain the will test your whole being. It's peak has only ever been reached by two others, not unlike yourself. There you can be purged of the evil that grips your soul. If you can ascend to the summit that is."

"Caius..."

"I'll go." The dark knight turned away. He observed the concerned looks the rest of him group gave him.

_To think they could still be worried for me after what I have done._

Hope broke the silence. "Well we'll tag along."

"No."

"Caius, what are you thinking? We're allies now, you Hope, Lightning and I. We can't just let you go alone."

"I appreciate the concern Noel, but this is something I must do alone."

Noel clenched his jaw in frustration. Caius was always impossible about things like this. Stubborn to the end. He was surprised when he found Lightning's hand on his shoulder. He looked up to the pink haired woman. "Let him go."

"What is the quickest way to get to this mountain?" Caius asked the man.

"By chocobo you should be able to arrive there within a day. I suggest you rest at our inn and leave at dawn tomorrow. As for you three, we can escort you to what we believe is a portal for you to use. We discovered it some time ago and decided to house it in its own building."

"Thank you, I believe that is what I shall do then."

The village elder waved his hand, a sign that he was dismissing the four knights. They found their way out of the tower, and attempted to find the inn. Lightning slackened her pace to fall in with the trailing Caius.

"I'm sure you'll be able to get there faster than in a day." She said to the silent, normally perspicacious man.

Puzzled by what she meant, he responded with only a slightly confused look.

Light reached into her armor, and pulled out a pink crystal in the shape of a rose. "Take it. Odin will get you there faster than any chocobo ever will."

He stated at the crystal for a brief moment, unsure what to think. Making up his mind, he took the rose from her. "Thank you, Lightning."

She smiled faintly. "Try to catch up quickly. We could use the back up."

"Of course."

Noel was talking to a villager with Hope. The two seemed to finish their conversation with the man, before walking over to Lightning and Caius. "He says that the building that houses it the time gate is in the northeastern most part of this town."

"Noel and I want to get some rest tonight before we leave for tomorrow. We don't know when our next chance to have a good night's rest might be."

"Agreed." The warriors all located the inn, and resigned themselves to a cozy room, fitted with exactly enough beds for the size of their party. The room was decently sized, and had even had a home sort of scent to it. Just inhaling the scent alone refreshed their energy.

Offloading some gear, the knights elected to eat dinner.

Caius was the only one to object. "I think I'll stay to rest."

Noel and Hope glanced at one another for a moment, then to Lightning. Understanding what was going on, she answered for them. "Sure. We'll leave you some for when you wake up."

She guided her friends out of the room, leaving Caius to himself. When the room had cleared, he eagerly selected a bed to claim as his own, and allowed himself to drift into sleep.

Hope, Noel and Lightning each sat around a table. Before them a spread of food was laid out. Lightning began to separate some food, putting it to the side.

Confused, Hope asked. "You're not eating?"

Lightning nodded. "No I am, but I'm saving this for Caius. I have a feeling I know what kind of stunt he's going to pull. He's going to need this."

"What do you mean?"

"Well he'll be damned if he waits until dawn to set off. I'm positive he's going to try and leave once we all go to asleep tonight."

Noel nodded in agreement. "That sounds exactly like something he would do. Good call." Noel paused to. take a bite of some fruit. He allowed himself to enjoy its sweet flavor before setting it down and continuing speaking. "It's amazing how far we've come in such little time. I mean, we're knights chosen by deities."

"Yea, you're right Noel. It's not over yet though. We still need to find a way to stop Bhunivelze."

Noel hid his frown. He remembered his visit to the mystic not too long ago.

* * *

_"Wait. Before you depart, know this. If Bhunivelze is slain, the remaining balance of the world will disappear completely, and existence as you know it shall fall to oblivion."_

_"Well how exactly can we stop it then? If we defeat him only for the world to end then we won't get anywhere."_

_She frowned. "I know of a way."_

* * *

Snapping out of his stupor, Noel masked his worry with a smile. "So Hope, tell me something. What in Etro's name were you thinking when you named your new cocoon? I mean, you named it after our big bad guy for crying out loud."

Hope chuckled nervously. "Well you see, I found the name written in one of the scriptures during my time at the Paddra ruins. I guess the name stuck with me when we decided to build a new cocoon. My mistake."

"Noel, why do you think Caius has changed so much all of a sudden? He's acting pretty unlike himself."

"I think he's finally realized that he was never doing what Yeul truly wanted to begin with. He probably has a lot going on in his head and his way of dealing with things is to focus on something and move forward."

"Shoot first, ask questions later huh? Can't say I'm unfamiliar with that way of thinking."

Noel brushed it off. "Oh, well I'm sure he'll be alright. I know him, he's tougher than the shell on an Adamantoise. We've got nothing to worry about."

With that, the trio fell into silence and resumed their meal without any further words.

* * *

Crickets chirped together, the only disturbance in the otherwise tranquil evening.

Caius held in his palm a pink rose crystal, the only hint of color in the otherwise black setting. He threw the crystal up, and slashed it with his blade, Ragnarok.

"Odin, come forth."

Odin descended down in his gestalt form. Caius strapped on a bag and leapt onto Odin's back. "I'll have to thank them for the food another time. Odin, onward to the east."

The eidolon began moving, quickly achieving a speedy pace, with Caius comfortably resting on his back.

In the distance, crimson began to creep over into the horizon, setting the sky ablaze as Caius rode off into the sunrise.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**On a completely unrelated note, there was a GRAMMAR error in my description for this story, and there had been for over 3 months. Nobody cared to tell me either Dx I noticed this when looking at some of the stats for this story last Sunday. It's all fixed now, but I still personally feel sorta embarrassed by it xD**

**I also have another story in the works, but I don't know how soon it'll be in a presentable state. I'm probably gonna work on it quietly until I've either get 4 or 5 chapters already written, or until this story draws to its conclusion. Either way, I'm extremely excited about it!**

**Until next time everyone! :D**


	12. Chapter 12: Obscurum Fio Lux Lucis II

**Author's Note:**

**I am so sorry for yet again missing my upload deadline last week. I just had the worst case of writers block. It took me literally until 9:00AM this morning to actually bang out this chapter. I finished this literally a half hour ago, and for that I hope it's not too lacking in the quality department.**

**In other news, the contributing factor to my writers block was the NY comic con! Which I went to Friday through Sunday. Oh my god was that sooooo much fun. I bought this absolutely beautiful Lightning wall scroll that is now proudly hanging in my room :D**

**So anyways, try to enjoy this chapter, cause I nearly killed myself trying to write it this morning Dx.**

**DISCLAIMER**

**You all know what goes here.**

* * *

Hooves thudded as they hit the ground. They sky glowed a faint scarlet color as the sun slowly crept into the sky.

Caius, riding atop the eidolon Odin, neared his destination. In the distance, a mountain began to pierce the horizon.

The dark knight stared in awe. It had been years since he had seen a sight such as this one. Finally, he drew close to the base of the mountain. He jumped from Odin's back, and watched as he transformed back into his human looking form. "Thank you Odin. You are dismissed." The eidolon nodded, and faded away.

Caius turned, facing the beginning of his climb. "Can this mountain truly wash away my bloodstained past?"

* * *

"Noel, wake up."

"Ughhh." Noel groaned as he was roused from his slumber. " It can't be morning already."

Lightning rolled her eyes. "It is, now get up."

As if for the first time, Noel opened his eyes. He winced slightly, not expecting the brightness that assaulted his corneas.

"Hope is putting all our supplies in order."

Noel didn't pay attention to Light's words, instead he glanced over to Caius's bed. As expected, the stoic and mysterious man was nowhere to be seen. The food they'd left was gone and his sword Ragnarok also had been taken. "Do you think he can do it?"

Lightning caught where Noel's eyes were as he asked. "Well the way I see it, he isn't going to give himself any choice. Failure isn't an option for men like him." Lightning grabbed her armor and began assembling it on her body.

Noel chuckled. "Now that I think about it, he sounds kinda like Snow."

She paused for a moment, and smiled. "I wish he were Snow. It'd be a lot easier to slug him."

Noel knew how strong Lightning was. He could imagine getting punched in the face by her easily being able to dislocate someone's jaw. "Wow, poor Snow."

"Yea, a total pity." She deadpanned, before breaking into suppressed giggles.

"Alright guys, I'm done!" Hope chirped as he joined his friends in their room. "All of our equipment is ready."

Light motioned over to Noel. "Well our Noel isn't quite ready yet. He just woke up, so we'll be here just a bit longer."

"You could have woken me up earlier!" He protested.

"No thanks. You tend to be moody when you don't get enough rest. I personally don't feel like dealing with a whiny companion."

Noel sighed in defeat. "Alright, alright. I'll get ready now."

"Hey Hope, who's watching our things?"

"Oh, I asked Mog to watch our stuff."

Noel raised his eyebrow. "That's quite the frightening guard dog you've selected. I'm sure nobody is going to go near our things."

Realizing the sarcasm from Noel, Hope nervously grinned. "Well it's about time I check on him anyways. See you in a few Noel." Hope exited cooly, but Noel and Lightning could hear the quickening of his footsteps pounding the floor once he was out of their view.

"Right, well I'll be with you two in a few."

"Don't be late." Lightning said as she too exited the room.

Noel got up from his bed, and stretched, having not had the chance to rest this well in a long time.

"Right, time to get to work then." Noel grabbed his armor and began putting it on. As he did so, his mind wandered.

_I wonder how Caius is doing right now?_

* * *

Darkness. Pure darkness surrounded Caius, as he inched his way through a cavern on the mountain. He used the wall as a crutch and to get a faint idea of the direction he was headed.

"This cave surely must have some way to illuminate it."

His hand scratched something he didn't recognize. Using both hands, he felt the object that was attached to the cavern wall. It felt like a holster for a torch. After careful inspection, he realized that there was still a torch in the holster, which Caius gratefully took.

"Fire." He said, as the wood sprang to life with flames. While he couldn't see far, he could now at least make out a path for himself to follow.

After several minutes of traversing the cave, he finally reached an exit. His eyes narrowed, stinging from the sudden rush of sunlight. Once his pupils adjusted, he noticed he had to cross a rope bridge. The bridge seemed extremely old and worn out, looking as if it hardly supported its own weight as it spanned what must have been a gap of at least fifty feet.

"There has to be some other method of crossing." Caius said to himself. He looked around, finding no easy way of closing the gap.

Resigning to cross the death trap laid before him, he carefully stepped onto the first plank. It screeched at the weight his foot applied, but surprisingly supported him better than he had anticipated. He put out his other foot, and was astonished that the second plank also seemed to carry his body weight rather well.

Carefully he advanced across the bridge, making it to the part that concerned him most. The halfway point. As he stepped forward, he could hear the tension in the ropes. He pressed onward past the three fourths point, as the ropes grew weaker and weaker.

Without any warning, one of the ropes supporting the bridge snapped. His weight fell from beneath him, as he quickly grabbed the other rope to hold himself up.

"This is not good!" He iterated to himself. The ledge he was headed for was just a few feet out of arms reach. Soon the rope he clung to would snap from the burden of all of his weight.

Caius panicked, as nervous sweat ran down his face. He had to do something, he could not die here. Not like this.

Thinking quickly, he began advancing along the rope, shimmying his way to the other side. Once he could reach out to grab the ledge, he began swinging his body in a pendulum like motion. Using the momentum he picked up, Caius launched himself at the ledge, barely managing to find a handhold.

Relieved that he no longer was in danger of collapsing, Caius easily hefted himself over the ledge and onto solid ground. He breathed heavily, with adrenaline still coursing through his system.

Composing himself, he spotted what looked like gravestones.

He inspected the middle one. The stone had an inscription written on it.

_"Traveler stained by evil, and hardened by death. Your ordeal is reaching its end. Now begins the final test to decide if you are worthy of the hallowed light."_

Caius read the inscription, when suddenly, he was consumed by a bright light. He found he was no longer atop the mountain, and now was in a strange crystal chamber.

The walls and floor shone blue, as if made of pure crystal. The whole place had a holy vibe that could not be ignored.

_"Hello Caius. I knew you could make it." A voice echoed through the chamber._

Caius's hairs stood on end. "What sort of trickery is this? You no longer live." He frantically searched the room for the source of the voice.

_"While that may be true, this place will always choose to resonate with you using a person of great importance to you."_

He relaxed, pleased by the explanation of which he was hearing Yeul's voice. "So what now then? I've climbed their mountain, what do I do next?" He asked.

_"You must prove your readiness to forsake the evil within. Step forward, Caius."_

Caius did as he was asked, stopping just short of an altar before him.

Suddenly his body was coated in light once more. He raised an arm to shield his eyes from the unexpected brightness. When the light died down, he lowered his arm, and gasped slightly.

He hands no longer was covered by black gloves. Now, he was wearing a white gauntlet. He inspected himself further. His whole suit of armor had been transformed, with all that was once a shade of deep black now consisting of violet and white colors. His pauldrons were an striking violet color, and no longer had what resembled horns.

His chest plate was the most greatly changed. What was once comprised of black plate armor now was made of two portions of steel whiter than snow. In the center of his chest sat an amethyst crystal, shaped just like the summoning crystal for his eidolon, Bahamut.

The weight on his back felt different as well. He inspected it when he realized that Ragnarok was no longer there. He pulled the new weapon from his back, and saw that he instead had a large greatsword made of a brilliant steel. The weapon was easily the size of himself, but was much thinner than his previous blade.

"I am proud of you Caius, you no longer are a knight of evil. You've shed the blade Ragnarok and now as a reward, you wield the holy sword of Excalibur." The voice of Yeul praised Caius.

"Excalibur..." He murmured the legendary sword's name to himself. He noticed the blade had Etro script written across it. He read the language of the goddess aloud._ "From the deepest darkness, the purest light is born anew."_

_"Now, you must prove that you've truly abandoned the darkness within yourself."_

As Yeul's voice said that, from Caius, a clone of himself emerged. The clone was different however, it bore his previous appearance of a knight embodying death and destruction.

He looked at his former self in disgust, disappointed with what he had previously looked like. "Allow me to show you the difference between an imitation like yourself, and a real man!" Caius roared as he charged at his dark half. The two crossed blades as they glared into each others eyes.

Dark Caius swung Ragnarok at the holy knight, easily hefting the blade as if he were the real thing.

Caius struggled to parry, unfamiliar with the balance of his new weapon. Blocking a second blow from his dark side, he swung his sword around, only for the blow to be easily brushed aside.

_This fight will not end well at this rate. I have no experience using Excalibur just yet, and I don't even know the extent of my new powers._

Caius's heart pounded as he frantically dodged attacks from his evil self. As he did so, he would attempt to retaliate with his own swings with Excalibur, but to no avail. His dark half taunted him. "You weakling. The light has done nothing for you! You're a shell of your former self. Don't you see this power that I wield? How could you forsake this sort of strength you fool!"

The words stung deeply. Caius did feel helpless to the onslaught of attacks being sieged upon him.

_"Do not give up Caius."_ The voice of Yeul urged him.

_I cannot afford to lose. Not here or ever._

With a renewed resolve, he fought back harder against his darkness. He now went on the offensive, managing to start gaining ground on his foe. "While I may not be as powerful as I once was, the power I have been granted is true power, not the brute force that I once commanded! You say I'm a shell of my former self, and that makes me happy to hear! That means that now, I can fight like a true man, and not like the selfish fool I once was!" He swung again, and again. Leaving no opportunities for Dark Caius to counter or do much of anything. Caius leapt into the air, preparing for his final attack.

"HOLY!"

As he roared the spells name, his dark self rose into the air. Lights surrounded him, and began brutally assaulting him, before causing Dark Caius to explode into a dazzling display of holy light, leaving behind no trace of the replica's existence.

_"You've done it. The evil within you is no more. Now, you are a true holy knight, wielding the strength of a paladin."_

"I've.. I have succeeded..." He murmured to himself in disbelief. He truly managed to overcome the darkness within himself.

He quickly sheathed Excalibur, and turned to the altar. "I must go. The others are waiting."

_"Very well. Goodbye Caius."_

* * *

Caius began to vanish again, teleporting once more. Once he was gone, the room grew quiet. Once more, Yeul's voice spoke. _"Thank you for everything."_

Caius found himself at the foot of the mountain. It was long past noon. The sun was now beginning to set.

He smiled, pulling Odin's crystal out, cleaving it in two with Excalibur to summon the eidolon.

"Thank you for coming to me once more, Odin. This time I am worthy of riding a noble creature such as yourself." He leapt onto Odin's back, and the eidolon neighed loudly, before breaking into a gallop.

Caius and Odin rode into the sunset, leaving the mountain filled with ordeals behind the two of them.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**I hope this wasn't too bad of a chapter. Please give me reviews if anything doesn't seem to flow properly or anything, so I can fix it ASAP. Thanks! :D**


	13. Chapter 13: Battle of an Eternity I

**Author's Note:**

**Here's chapter 13! I won't waste much of you time today with this I promise!**

**From how it seems, this story should be wrapping up within the next 3 chapters. I hope you all love what plan to do with it! I know I do! :D**

**Square-Enix owns blah disclaimer blah blah.**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Skyscrapers loomed overhead, threatening to pierce the darkened sky. The tallest of them all was of course the headquarters of Academia, which practically blocked the entire view of the horizon. Behind it the colossus of Bhunivelze hung in the air just as Hope and Noel remembered it.

"We're here." Noel gazed at Bhunivelze.

Mog shuddered. The tiny moogle wasn't prepared for the ominous taint that hung in the air. Everything reeked of evil and darkness.

"Come on Mog, it'll be okay." Hope reassured him as Mog turned into a gunblade for the emerald clad knight. "Everything looks pretty similar to how we left it. We can't be too far in the future from the time we departed."

Noel closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the showdown to come. "Our target date was Academia 520AF. That would fit perfectly then."

"That Caius Ballad better hurry up. He'd better not expect us to do all the work." Lightning drew her blade, prepared for battle at any moment. She stepped forward, deciding to lead the group into the looming battle ahead "Face forward, no turning back."

Their march towards the HQ of Academia was disturbed by a voice calling to them. "Hope? Noel?" The voice hitched a moment, unable to say anymore. Noel turned to see someone who he'd been dreading running into. "...Sis?"

Snow rushed out from inside the building at the trio. "I can't believe it! I thought you three were gone. We all thought you disappeared sis. Hope, Noel, everybody also thought you died in that crash twenty years ago.." Snow bearhugged the two young men.

Noel frowned at the tight embrace. "Snow... I'm sorry." The behemoths grip loosened. They both knew this was coming.

"I couldn't save her. I promised you I would protect her..." Noel couldn't stand to look the gigantic blond in the eyes.

Snow did something next that Noel hadn't expected. He raised Noel's face up to look him straight in the eyes, and put both hands on the young man's shoulders. "Now you wait just a damn minute. Serah knew what she was doing. She made that choice. It hurt, finally escaping from that coliseum and getting here only to learn that the girl I love died trying to protect the future, but don't blame yourself for a minute. I won't let her memory and sacrifice be tarnished by you felling sorry for yourself. You did everything within your power to protect her. That's all you could have done."

The words pierced the brunette like a knife. Was it all true? He didn't have time to conjure an answer to his question. Before he knew it, Noel found his eyes welling with droplets of tears. He fought hard against them, deciding that nobody would want him to cry over this. Especially not Serah or any of his friends.

"Thank you, Snow." He smiled, wiping the water from his eyes.

"That's what heroes are for." Snow grinned as Lightning scoffed at the hero comment. "Look, I know we all need to catch up, but the three of us have a world to save."

Snow scratched the back of his head. "Geez, way to ruin a moment."

"Snow, can you take us to the airship docks? We need to get to Bhunivelze." Hope took charge, reminding the group of the urgent situation.

"Uh sure. Should be right through here." Snow ran, leading the trio of knights through the large building until they eventually reached a large docking bay filled with various airships.

"We'll need a pilot." Noel said as they neared the vehicle.

"Don't worry, I've got this. I took some piloting lessons when I first joined The Academy." Hope quickly entered the airship, followed by the others.

"Snow you can't come." Noel stopped the larger man from getting into the ship with them.

Snow frowned. "I have as much reason to fight as you guys do. I can't just let you all go off to battle and sit here. I've been able to do nothing but sit here for twenty years! You have no idea what the feels like Noel!"

Noel also frowned, saddened by how the blond brute must have felt. "I'm sorry Snow, it's too dangerous. He has powers on a godlike level, and the only reason we can fight is because we're chosen knights. You would just end up getting yourself killed!"

Snow thought about this. Suddenly Hope's voice called out on the intercom. "Noel get in I'm closing the hatch!"

Without further thinking Noel replied. "Close it up Hope. We're good down here." As he said that, he turned back to Snow, with an apologetic look in his eyes. Before the man could realize what happened, Noel had already pushed him off the hatch and onto the ground as the ship began to take off.

Snow fell flat on his backside, completely dazed. The hatch of the ship had closed now, and the vehicle was departing for the knights battleground.

He grinned. "You'd better hit him extra hard for me kid."

* * *

Caius arrived in Academia as quickly as he could manage. His shining armor dulled in the darkness of the future, looking as if it had been worn out by time. "I must locate the others and join them quickly." He scanned his surroundings, however all he could find were buildings and more buildings. Finally, he spotted the Academia HQ, the one building he knew out of memory.

_They must of headed that way._

"Odin!" Caius called forth Lightning's eidolon once more. He mounted him, and spurred the holy steed onward.

They must be heading for Hope's Cocoon. That's exactly where that wretched god should be dwelling. There is no time to waste.

Pulling out a second eidolith crystal, he shattered the stone as he always had. From the blinding light that followed, Bahamut flew forth. Understanding Caius's intention, Odin morphed into his normal form, grabbing the paladin and launching him upward to his dragon.

He was easily swooped up by his own Eidolon, before dismissing Odin. Atop Bahamut's back, he could see the floating world hanging in the sky exactly as he remembered it.

He also noticed something else. His once black dragon now resembled his new armor. Bahamut was a flurry of white and violet colors. "Normally aesthetics don't mean much to me, but those colors certainly look better on you." Caius patted the dragon's back.

Bahamut roared, and took off towards Bhunivelze at unbelievable speeds.

_I just hope I get there on time._

* * *

To say Bhunivelze was a mechanical colossus was an understatement. Thousands of tons of steel and other matter composed the man-made planet. It was hardly believe able that much metal could exist in the first place.

"I'm bringing her down! Hang on you two!" Hope shouted over the intercom to warn his friends.

The landing was rougher than he intended, with the ship's belly scratching the surface beneath it.

The ship opened its hatch and from within came the three Knights of the Goddesses.

"If he's anywhere, he would be in the central control chamber, which is located directly in the middle of Bhunivelze."

Noel drew his blades."How do we get there?"

"There should be a elevator for authorized personnel in the block east from here. If my access code still works that should take us directly there."

"Alright then, let's go." Lightning wanted to get things over with as quickly as possible.

Noel and Hope nodded in agreement with Lightning, as Hope led the trio east.

The group covered each other flawlessly. Bhunivelze was teeming with monsters and mechanical foes alike, which led to several undesired confrontations. Each "battle" only lasted seconds as the knights would dispatch their aggressors in quick and fluid movements.

Before long they arrived at the next block over, leaving a trail of broken automations and dead beasts in their wake. "It's just a little further." Hope huffed.

The group reached a small terminal. On the doorway a sign read "Authorized Personnel Only."

"Looks like this is the place." Noel observed the space within. Inside was a space hardly able to fit one person. "Uh Hope, we're going to need to make multiple trips."

"What's the password Hope?" Lightning asked the young man.

Hope froze for a minute. He answered Lightning question with an inaudible mumble.

"Hope we don't have time for this! What's the password?"

"I said it's Lightning!" The knight in emerald armor made sure to hide his face so that his companions couldn't see how red he had gotten. Noel made no effort to hide his laughter.

Hope quickly punched in his code, eager for an escape from the awkwardness of the situation.

Noel and Lightning followed behind him, with each of their trips taking relatively no time.

When the three finally reunited in the central control chamber, they again pressed on, having forgotten Hope's embarrassment from the encounter above.

The central control chamber was precisely what it sounded like. It was a gigantic chamber filled with the machines that kept Bhunivelze afloat and made sure that it was operating properly.

The chamber was only one "floor" big but that didn't mean much. The whole room was shaped as a gigantic sphere, with the floor being the center. Noel estimated that whole chamber must have been at least one hundred yards in diameter.

At one of the terminals, a blond man in robes could be seen, inputting several keystrokes and humming away without a care in the world. His ears perked when he heard footsteps behind him, and he turned around to greet the knights with a wicked smile.

"It's about time you all showed up! Now I shall obliterate the four of- Wait just a second." Bhunivelze pointed a finger at each knight. "One, two, three. Where's the fourth one? Oh no no **NO**.This just won't do! How am I supposed to destroy you all at once if you won't do me the service of assembling for me." Bhunivelze whined childishly.

"Give it up, we're here to put an end to this!" Noel drew his swords, preparing for anything that the mentally unstable god might attempt.

"Oh put those away will you. I'm not going to obliterate you three. Not until the dark and purple dude in depression shows up anyways!" He laughed maniacally. " You know Hopie, you naming this planet of yours after me is very touching. I mean, that's probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. How many gods do you know that can say they're inside themselves? Ha!" Bhunivelze cracked up at his own joke.

Hope and the others were dumbfounded. How could this guy actually be a god attempting to commit genocide?

"You're sick Bhunivelze. We came here to stop you, and that's exactly what we're gonna do!" Without further words, Noel launched a fire spell at the robed deity before them. The spell hit its mark, and also burned to robes to ash.

"OUCH! That really hurt you know! Fine, if its a fight you want then let's go." Now clearly angered, Bhunivelze raised his arms. And summoned a strange staff shaped weapon.

Noel was the first of the knights to launch an attack, he rushed straight at Bhunivelze and put up a blinding offense. His swords slashed and stabbed in nearly every direction, but his foe each blocked or evaded every movement by a hair length. He delivered a kick to his opponent, sending Noel flying backwards. It that moment, he spun his staff and managed to deflect a shot from Lightning's gunblade.

The pink flash darted forward, quickly taking Noel's place and trading blows with the god. Hope slung spell after spell at the fighters, as Noel picked himself up off the ground.

For someone who belongs in an insane asylum, he definitely knows how to put up a fight.

Noel reentered the fray alongside Lightning, running on nothing but the adrenaline raging through his body.

Seeing this, Bhunivelze split his weapon into two smaller halves and started to parry blows from both Lightning and Noel.

Light switched up her offense, going into her synergist role. She quickly cast several augmenting spells on herself before changing into a ravager. She charged up her blade with electricity and began attacking at an inhuman speed.

Noel and Light put some distance between themselves and their enemy, causing him to pursue the augmenteless Noel.

Having focused on the two knights in front of him, Bhunivelze was caught off guard by a sudden blizzaga from Hope. The god was consumed in a large ice crystal that shattered and left Bhunivelze dazed. Taking the opportunity, Hope rushed forward to cast an unresisted slowga, switching roles without even thinking about it.

Bhunivelze was brought down by the combined work of the three knights. From his wounds seeped black chaos. "Oh no, how cruel. Destroyed before I could even see the beautiful sight of what was beyond the gate." He vanished, wailing as he did so.

"Is it over?" Hope asked.

Noel readied his blades. "No, somehow I don't think so."

"DAMN YOU. YOU JUST HAD TO RUIN MY FUN, DIDN'T YOU?"

Bhunivelze rematerialized. "To answer your question little Hopie, no it's not over. In fact, I'm just getting heated up!"

Bhunivelze's eyes glowed, almost shooting out beams of light. The light grew stronger, blinding the warriors. When the light cleared, no longer was a blond man before them. Instead, a machine had taken his place.

The machine looked much like a fal'cie, except larger than most the group had ever seen, beaten in size only by Fenrir and Titan.

A familiar artificial voice spoke through the mechanical monstrosity. "Now the party _really_ starts! Prepare for round two kiddies!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Oh my dayum. How the hell are these three gonna get out of this one? Some of you already have an idea I imagine, but don't spoil it! :D**

**I feel like addressing a review here! So here I go!**

**O Mischeif Managed: I'm really glad that you're enjoying the story, and I think you're probably one of the more fortunate readers xD you started late in the game and had a dozen chapters to catch up on :D**

**When writing it try to stick as closely to the game's canon as possible. I did tons and tons of research about this stuff before I started writing and really did work to make sure it all flowed. I also am glad you feel it could be played as actual video game levels, that makes me happy to hear. While I hadn't originally intended that, it is something I don't mind.**

**As for Caius and his character developments, Caius was without a doubt my favorite character in the game. His drive, his origins and everything really fascinated me. I always knew he was a good guy but on the wrong side and I really tried to portray him as such. I hope it didn't all come across as sudden. I did try to pace his character development. Anyways, I hope you stick around to enjoy the conclusion of this story! :D**


	14. Chapter 14: Battle of an Eternity II

**Author's Note:**

**Hey everyone! I apologize for being a week late again, but last week when Hurricane Sandy hit the easy coast I was left without power until a few days ago, and my priorities had to be shifted elsewhere. However the good news is that everyone in my family is safe and I'm back to continue true (hopefully) thrilling story you're all reading.**

**Only about 3 or 4 chapters to go until its all done. I can't wait to write the ending, and I hope you're all equally as excited as I am. I have a feeling you're all gonna hate me at first when you read it xD **

**So now that its that time of the week again, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Is it over?" Hope asked.

Noel readied his blades. "No, somehow I don't think so."

"DAMN YOU. YOU JUST HAD TO RUIN MY FUN, DIDN'T YOU?"

Bhunivelze rematerialized. "To answer your question little Hopie, no it's not over. In fact, I'm just getting heated up!"

Bhunivelze's eyes glowed, almost shooting out beams of light. The light grew stronger, blinding the warriors. When the light cleared, no longer was a blond man before them. Instead, a colossal machine had taken his place.

The machine looked much like a fal'cie, except larger than most the group had ever seen, beaten in size only by Fenrir and Titan.

A familiar artificial voice spoke through the mechanical monstrosity. "Now the party really starts! Prepare for round two kiddies!"

The new form of Bhunivelze looked utterly intimidating, appearing twisted and pained, similar to some of the fal'cie the group had seen before. The knights could hear the gears of the giddy god grinding, mobilizing the other mechanisms within the mechanical monster.

Lightning sized up their opponent, familiar with fighting mechanical foes of this size. "Noel, Hope, split up and each attack a different part of him." The other knights nodded and divided, taking the left and right arms respectively as the fleeting flash flew upwards, her target being Bhunvielze's head.

As she rapidly approached his face, she could make out its more intricate features. His mouth was curved into a wide maniacal grin, revealing what only looked like fangs, complimenting his psychotic nature.

She unloaded several bullets, but to no effect. The rounds of lead bounced off before even nearing their mark.

_He must have a barrier of some sort up. Probably a protect spell._

Improvising, Lightning kicked off of Bhunivelze's forehead at the peak of her ascent. As she rocketed backwards, she waved her arm and flung a trio of ruin spells, each of which somehow connected. She landed gracefully, rolling and getting back up to unload a second assault in no time at all.

At the same time Noel and Hope struggled to occupy the lunatic god's limbs. Both young men could hardly so much as scratch the armor plating that protected his arms, and spells seemingly vanished as they made contact, having no visible effect if any at all.

Hope flung spells faster than he ever had, his most powerful spells doing nothing. Thinking, he quickly cast several deprotega and deshellga spells, watching in satisfaction as invisible walls around the god glowed and vanished

He renewed his attack with a flurry of fire spells, failing to harm his foe.

_He may be vulnerable now, but that doesn't even seem to change anything. How are we supposed to hurt this guy?_

Hope was slowing down. This fruitless fight left him feeling disheartened. He stopped for a moment, planning his next attempt to maim Bhunivelze, and in that very moment he failed to notice the arm coming to attack him.

"Hope, look out!" Noel screamed in vain, calling out too late as he watched Hope get sent flying. Noel's scream was muffled by the sound of his own blood pounding as Hope crashed straight into a wall, leaving him out cold.

Angered, Noel turned his attention back to his own opponent. He focused himself, and leapt to dodge a punch coming at him from Bhunivelze's other arm.

"Stupid little flies! Stop moving around so much. You're making it difficult to crush you!" The god groaned with his mechanical voice.

Noel landed on the arm that had just came at him. He stabbed one if his swords into it, and began running up along the arm. This stunt left a large gash upon the appendage and earned him a loud moan of pain from the god.

_Finally, at least I've actually landed a decent blow on him!_

"That hurts! Didn't you mom ever tell you to play nice!?"

"Shut up." Lightning deadpanned, shooting several thundaga spells at Bhunivelze as she ran. She darted past the arms that kept attempting to squash her like an insect, and made her way to his torso. In her hand, a flame flickered and roared to life as she unleashed a massive firaga spell at her target. The result was a section of his body that melted and had become a blank metal surface. She narrowly escaped the tight situation, back flipping out of the way as a ruin spell exploded where she had just been.

Clear of the danger zone, she'd noticed that Hope was missing. She looked around, and finally found his unconscious form resting against a wall several yards away.

She grimaced as her teeth clenched in anger. She didn't have a further moment to think about it as she leapt away from another attack.

_Die damn you!_

Meanwhile, Noel struggled to evade the deadly attacks that were aimed at him. Bhunivelze had begun using magic, and several fira and thundara spells kept pursuing the sapphire knight. At this rate, he wouldn't even have a chance to send a healing spell at the unconscious Hope.

One haste spell later and he was now easily able to weave his way out of the magical myriad of attacks chasing him. Noel took notice of Lightning, and she soared towards Bhunivelze's face, planting her feet on the lid of his eye as she did.

He winced, as he saw her impale her blade through what he assumed was the god's cornea. His spine crawled at the scream of agony the followed.

The god roared in anger and pain. "You dirty rotten bitch! HOW DARE YOU!" Reacting purely on instinct, Bhunivelze reached for the knight on his face, and managed to grab her by the legs.

"Lightning! Look out!" She didn't hear Noel's warning, and was taken before she realized what had happened.

Bhunivelze swung her around like a child playing with a rag doll, swinging this way and that way however he pleased. He stopped, but not before raising his fist, and pounding the ground.

"NO!" Noel screamed. He stopped his attempted attack. Concerned for the older knight's life, he ran over to her, as she laid in a crater from the impact.

"I'll be fine." Lightning croaked. "Just a lot of broken bones, that's all."

Bhunivelze watched on smugly. "Oh you little humans are so cute. Getting so worried when one of you gets hurt. Haha!" He cackled wickedly as always. "That bitch got what she deserved, fool! How dare she blind me in an eye! Who the hell is sick enough to just stab someone in the eye?"

Noel ignored the ranting as he attempted to heal the ex-soldier with several cure spells. His efforts amounted to little.

"Don't worry about me Noel, just go make sure Hope is alright." He nodded, going over to check on his friend and fellow knight of Mwynn as Bhunivelze continued to rant about the cruelty of blinding a man.

"Hey, Hope. You okay buddy?" Noel asked the silverrette. Hope stirred, regaining consciousness and rubbing the back of his head. "Did we beat him?" Noel frowned. "Not yet. He just hurt Lightning pretty bad.

"Damn, then why do I have this killer headache if we didn't even win." Hope smiled. Noel couldn't help but return the smile at his friend's little joke.

"I'll take care of this." Noel told his friend. He handed a potion to Hope before turning and approaching the god again."

"-seriously, a slap on the wrist first or something. No need to take an eye out." Bhunivelze huffed as he finished his rant. "What do you want?"

Noel scowled. "Cut the crap, I'm going to take you down once and for all."

"That's a good one kid. Let's see you try." Bhunivelze teased the knight.

Noel roared and charged forward. Bhunivelze raised his arm, attempting to go for a killing blow. Noel disregarded this, recklessly continuing his charge. The god's arm neared, and Noel was prepared for the pain that would follow.

Suddenly, he was swept from his feet. He heard a loud thud from the impact of the arm where he had just been. He attempted to collect himself, and realized he was riding atop a white dragon.

_What the hell is going on.._

"Bahamut, rain fire upon him!" A man in white and violet armor on the dragon roared. The eidolon complied, blasting several flare spells at Bhunivelze."

The man turned to Noel, and Noel's jaw dropped slightly when he recognized his mentor. "..Caius?" Caius smiled, a rare sight for the young man.

"Oh come on. You have GOT to be kidding me. Just when I'm winning, YOU have to show up? Can't an evil maniac ever get a break?" Bhunivelze whined at the appearance of Caius. "Hey, you dropped the whole black'n purple thing. Stopped being emo?"

Caius disregarded the god, instead speaking to Noel. "I apologize for the delay. It took me ages to find this chamber. What remains of the others?"

"Lightning is badly injured and so is Hope. As it stands we're the only two with no serious injuries."

Caius pulled his sword from his back. Noel failed to identify the new weapon. "He shall pay for what he's done." He outstretched an arm and held out his weapon. "My friends, feel the healing light of a paladin. Let your wounds stitch themselves and your pain ebb away. Renew!" The spell shot into the air, exploding like a firework. Lights spread all over, showering the injured knights. The spell did its work quickly, leaving both Light and Hope feeling almost entirely refreshed.

"I hate to say it, but we owe you one Caius." Lightning smiled. "She's got that right. Your timing couldn't have been better." Hope drew his weapon once more.

Caius also smiled, pulling a pink rose crystal from his armor. "He has served me well Lightning. It's time for him to return to you." He chucked the eidolith crystal at its rightful owner. She caught it, releasing a sigh of relief as the familiar feel of the stone returned to her. "Good to have you back Odin."

"Noel, we must finish this quickly! This world is in a critical state. He has set it so that the graviton cores would fail."

_So that's why he was at the controls earlier._

"We have to stop him. If those cores go out this whole place is gonna go down. Caius, set me on the ground. It's time to finish this fight." Bahamut heeded Caius's command to descend, lowering close enough to the ground for Noel to dismount from the eidolon. "Time to end this!"

Hope and Lightning joined Noel's side, with Caius atop Bahamut hovering just above. "I swear now, we'll put an end to you Bhunivelze." Noel raised his blades.

The warriors all charged. "We will save the future!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**In case any of you remember, I'm also working on a new TWEWY story. It hasn't been published yet, and I'm still brainstorming ideas. As it stands I have a prologue and most of chapter 1 written out. Here's where you come in. I need names. I'm having issues coming up with character names, especially assigning names that have a meaning to them. Now, I won't spoil my story but I ask this. If you have a name that you'd like to suggest, send me it, along with what it means (try to keep it related to an art form of some sort) and I'll look over them all. Ones I like will be given to characters.**

**Anyways, see you next week!**


	15. Chapter 15: The Heaviest Price of All

**A/N: Oh boy. Yes I am over three hours early with my update. But I couldn't help it! I'm just really excited. Things get super duper intense this chapter. That's all I have to say now read it damnit! :D**

* * *

"Noel, we must finish this quickly! This world is in a critical state. He has set the system so that the graviton cores would fail."

_So that's why he was at the controls earlier._

"We have to stop him. If those cores go out this whole place is gonna go down. Caius, set me down on the ground. It's time to finish this fight." Bahamut heeded Caius's command to descend, lowering close enough to the ground for Noel to dismount from the eidolon. "Time to end this!"

Hope and Lightning stood at Noel's side, with Caius atop Bahamut hovering just above. "I've just about had it with you and your psychotic plot. We're going to finish you here and now!" Noel raised his blades.

The warriors all charged. "We will save the future!"

"Foolish mortals!" Bhunivelze roared.

"Odin!" Lightning called her steed forth, mounting the holy horse. "We will show you no mercy." Odin galloped as Lightning launched a Aeroga spell.

Noel and Caius each took turns keeping Bhunivelze occupied both in the air and on the ground. "Noel, you must be the one to end this." Caius stated, as his dragon barrel rolled to avoided a zap from a powerful Thundaga spell.

"Why me Caius?" He and Hope stood back to back, each casting protective spells. "Why can't you do it?"

"It is your duty. You are the one true guardian Noel. You shouldered that responsibility when I was stabbed. I am no longer fit for completing the task. I can aid you but you must be the one to strike him down."

Bhunivelze lashed out, raking Caius and Bahamut with his hands. The two were sent plummeting into the ground, a bone crunching thud alerted the others to their impact. The shock from the crash threw up a huge dust cloud.

"See, you're all nothing more than flies! HAHA!" Bhunivelze was pleased with himself. He failed to take notice of the steadfast Lightning approaching atop Odin, with Odin's swords in hand.

"Not your lucky day." She said, swinging one of the huge blades and tearing a giant gash into the body of the god.

"OUCH!" Bhunivelze cried. Lightning was gone as quick as she came. Leaving him nothing to expend his anger on. From the dust cloud, a faint light could be seen.

"Bahamut, strike down this wicked monster! Megaflare!" The voice belonged to none other than Caius. From behind the veil one could only hear the whirring and screech of Bahamut charging indescribable amounts of power. Suddenly, the eidolon shot up into the air, gaining altitude over its target.

The attack was successful. The mechanical dragon loosed several shots of holy energy, each one exploding on contact, and fueling a chain reaction. The explosion grew in size from this, and began disintegrating parts of Bhunivelze.

"Noel, now!" Caius told his former student.

The sapphire knight nodded. He ran, drawing both of his blades. The swords glowed, reinforced by the power of every elemental spell Noel knew.

Bhunivelze could only watch what happened next. Noel stuck with a speed that could challenge Lightning herself. Each time he hacked and slashed more and more of Bhunivelze would be destroyed. The god screamed in horror, now begging for mercy. "No! Please! Don't do this, I didn't mean it! We can work it all out right buddy? Come on Noel!"

Noel ignored him. He leapt, preparing to deal the final blow. "This is for everyone who's lives have been ruined. For Serah, for Yeul. Even for all of us. The world doesn't need twisted gods like you any longer!" Noel combined his swords into a lance-like form. Gathering all of his might, he threw it straight into the core of Bhunivelze. The weapon found its mark, and easily tore its way through.

"NOOOOOOO." Bhunivelze's voice faded as his life drew to its close. "Damn you Mwynn! This was the curse I knew you placed on me all those eons ago! What happens now? Where does a god go when he dies. If only I lived to see the gate. Immortality was almost mine.." Bhunivelze pleaded to himself, his voice almost a whisper as he vanished in a wisp of darkness.

"We beat him!" Hope was the first to talk. Mog finally changed back into his normal form. "Hurray, kupo! Staying in that form was getting so boring!"

"Hope! The systems!" Noel reminded his friend. The world was still in danger.

Hope refocused himself. He quickly found the terminal Bhunivelze had been at earlier, and began punching in several keys in frustration. "It's not working! I'm locked out for some reason!"

Damnit.

"We've gotta get out of here, and quick." Noel attempted to find a way out. He suddenly thought of something. "Caius, give us a ride?"

The paladin understood, and called his eidolon forth. The knights mounted the holy dragon, as he blazed out of the man made world with the speed of a jet.

"Hang on tight everyone!"

* * *

The four warriors found themselves on the outside rather quickly, however things still seemed terribly bleak.

The chaos infecting the world hadn't receded. In fact, it had somehow appeared to grow stronger. Things had actually become worse in their brief absence.

Noel frowned, he had known this was coming.

* * *

_"Wait. Before you depart, know this. If Bhunivelze is slain, the remaining balance of the world will disappear completely, and existence as you know it shall fall to oblivion."_

_"Well how exactly can we stop it then? If we defeat him only for the world to end then we won't get anywhere."_

_The mystic frowned. "I know of a way." She turned. "Follow me, Noel Kriess." She led the young man into a hidden chamber. The room was pitch black, except for one brilliant light in the middle._

_"What's this?" Noel asked._

_"This is a crystal. Not just any crystal though. This one has the power to revert the world to its natural state. Everything you know will be set to how the true timeline intended for things to be._

_"If it has that power, why hasn't it been used yet?"_

_The woman sighed. "With this power there is both a condition and a price. The condition is that it can only be used when all of the gods in the world have faded from this existence. Be it death or some other means."_

_"So we have to kill Bhunivelze then.. That much I should have figured was unavoidable." Noel thought out loud. "What's the price then?"_

_The mystic didn't answer immediately. She gently took the crystal, and presented it to the knight. Noel was transfixed by the brilliance of the stone. The woman shed a single tear. "The highest price of them all."_

* * *

"What's going on? Hope asked. "We defeated Bhunivelze right? So why aren't things being fixed?"

It's time to let them know the truth.

"The world is collapsing in on itself." Noel said plainly. "With no gods left to uphold the balance of reality, the world is unraveling at the seams. Reality itself is being undone, right before our very eyes."

Lightning frowned. "There doesn't happen to be a way we can stop this, is there? How do you know about this all anyways?"

"I learned it when we went to Serendipity. I met with the mystic there and she told me that this would happen once we defeated Bhunivelze. Fortunately, she gave me the way to fix things as well."

Hope breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "We'll that's good. You should have mentioned this to us sooner. So how do we do it?"

Caius eyed his pupil. He could tell there was more than his successor was letting on.

Suddenly, below the knights, Bhunivelze shone. The whole of the replacement Cocoon shimmered with entrancing holy light. A crest of light appeared above the shining colossus. The circular crest had Etro Script written along the edge.

**_The new world begins now. Bearer of the crystal, martyr to all eternity. Come and bring forth the new true history._**

Noel stood, balancing himself well on the back of Bahamut. "You're sure?" Caius asked.

Hope was confused. "Sure about what? What's going on?"

Noel pulled the crystal from his armor, its light matched the ethereal glow of Bhunivelze "This crystal has the power to fix the timeline. It could only be used if there aren't any gods left in our world, when things are at the brink of oblivion. Everything will go back to exactly how it should be. Serah should be alive again. Yeul too. Everyone will have a second chance at the life they all deserved but had stolen from them during this whole chaotic mess." Noel sighed. He had resigned himself to what he would say next. Hope and the others listened intently.

In the background, reality kept growing more unstable. The world was slowly fading away into nothingness. The sky looked as if it was a blanket of pure darkness.

"The power of this crystal is absolutely perfect for what we need. It fixes everything." Noel said. "However, there comes a heavy cost for this mighty power. The user is consumed in the crest. Their life, and everything about them is erased from the true history. Nobody remembers them. Time goes on as if they never had existed in the first place."

"Noel you can't! Let me do this!" Lightning begged the younger man. "You don't have to do this."

Hope had no words. He didn't want to lose his friend like this. "You save the world and nobody will even know it. You don't get to see the people that matter ever again..."

Noel continued on, trying to persuade his companions. "I have to do this. When I started my journey with Serah, I told her that saving the future might compromise my own existence. I knew how real that possibility was, and I came to terms with it a long time ago. If I could create a future with people in it, where everyone has a chance to live. It'll be all worth it."

"So this is why you hid the truth from us." Caius deadpanned. "Noel Kriess, a man who understands the true value of human life. Your valor never ceases to amaze me,. Are you sure, my pupil? No, my friend."

Noel smiled nervously. "Sorry Caius. I have to, this is much too important to worry about just me."

The paladin nodded. "I understand. There are something's that we are bound to do by fate. Courses of action predetermined be who we are. It is for that very reason that I must do this." In one swift motion, Caius punched Noel in the gut, completely knocking the wind from the young man. In the boy's moment of weakness, he stole the crystal from him.

He looked at Lightning and at Hope. Both were equally shocked. However, this renewed the man's resolve.

_I apologize Noel, but the future needs you. You still have a life to live._

Crystal in hand, Caius leapt off Bahamut's back, diving straight into the crest of light!

_This is my final atonement. The chance to fix every wrongdoing I have ever committed. The opportunity to bring happiness to those who deserve it._

"CAIUS!" Noel cried. "Damn you, why Caius!? That should have been me!" Noel failed to fight back his tears. Hope patted his friend's back silently, attempting to console him.

Caius plummeted down still, growing closer to the light. "My name is Caius Ballad, guardian of the seeress Paddra Psu Yeul. I have sworn an oath to protect the sanctity of the timeline. This marks my final act as a guardian!" He roared out loudly, his voice booming through the air. He met with the crest of light, the shine growing unbearable to even look at.

In that moment everything was gone.

Caius was no longer in Academia during the year of 520 AF. He was no longer anywhere for that images played all throughout his mind.

He saw the creation of his world, the beginning of the universe. He could see the entire timeline from its beginning to the end. However, some things were different.

He saw a beautiful bright future. Noel was with the others in Academia 520 AF. In the future, he saw Yeul still alive and well, with the Noel in that time proudly standing by her as his guardian. It was as promised. No trace of him remained anywhere. His voice was removed from the Ballad of Eternity. Hushed by the will of fate.

"This is a future worth living in. Farewell everyone." Caius sighed to himself, as he too, vanished into the tides eternity.

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**A/N: I simply CANNOT wait to hear what everyone has to say about this chapter. I've been giddy about posting it all week. Either you'll all love me or completely hate me after having read it xD**

**Feel free to vent any emotions in the form of a PM,review,etc.**

**In other news. I recently posted the prologue to my TWEWY story titled "The New Seven Days". If you have some spare time I'd love for people to check it out. It'll be receiving its first update the Monday AFTER I post the final chapter to this story. **

**With that said. There are maybe one or two chapters left to this tale, and hopefully you'll all be satisfied with its ending.**

**I also recently got hired at a Toys R Us (Hurray for money!) So that will likely sap writing time away from me. That's why my new story will be updating on a bi-weekly schedule every Monday. Anyways, until next week everyone!**


	16. Finale : Song of the Future!

**A/N: It's finally here everyone. The final chapter to Ballad of an Eternity! Just a reminder that now since I've finished this story, I can actively begin my work on "The New Seven Days" My TWEWY sequel fic! Anyways, I hope this chapter is at least somewhat satisfying, so enjoy! :D**

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_Yeul._

_This is the future you longed for. I see that now._

* * *

_Can't stop, won't stop 'til the day that it's done__The enemy's always there, let 'em come, let 'em come__Who am I?__What am I here for?__All these questions appear and barge down the door__I was here and there at a time then lost__Everyday I tell myself I won't die without a cause__Be bold I say... be bold__You don't really have to do what you've always been told__Laws of old, share the gold__Find the truth of life unfold__Entwine the design__Make me into a higher being__Insight to a better plan, rebirth__See it all come to life__Make the wrongs right_

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An unconscious Noel laid on the sandy shore of a beach. The waves lapped at his armor, as the young man slowly roused from his slumber.

The first thing he noticed was the sky. It was a brilliant and striking shade of blue. One he hadn't seen in what felt like forever to the young man.

_Where am I? What happened to Lightning and Hope?_

He considered the possibilities. The most recent thing he remembered was taking down Bhunivelze with Lightning and Hope. After that, they managed to escape Hope's Cocoon and then everything else is a blank.

"Something's missing." The warrior said to himself. "I'd better look for the others, for all I know we could be in a different time entirely.

He followed the shoreline, certain that it would lead him to something, or perhaps someone. After an hour or so of travel, the surroundings began to look familiar to him. Vibrant trees and plant life began to decorate the nearby rocky cliffside. Slowly he started to recognize the landscape.

_That's New Bodhum..._

Noel sprinted towards the little seaside village, his heart pounding in excitement. He reached the entrance to the village, and what he saw sent him into euphoria. Children were playing, and people were going about their daily lives.

The crystallized Cocoon still hung in the sky, it's everlasting shimmer gracing the town with a transfixing light.

"The others!" Noel said to himself, turning away from the sight. He headed to the NORA house. The young man entered the building and was greeted by the warm smiles of his companions.

"Noel, I'm glad you're okay. Lightning and I were worried about you, but nobody even let us so much as leave this building." Hope hugged his friend and gave the hunter a pat on the back.

Lightning wore an uncharacteristic grin. "It's finally over huh."

"It's never over!" Noel heard a familiar voice answer Lightning. "The work of heroes never ends!" Snow grabbed Noel from behind, and bear hugged the younger man. His crushing grip practically forced the air from his body.

Noel's face grew a deep red, as he struggled for air. When Snow finally released him, he panted, relieving his panicked lungs.

"Just because I can survive fighting a god, doesn't mean you should nearly kill me like that!" Noel said, still trying to catch his breath.

The whole group laughed, even Lightning.

"Where's everyone else?" Noel asked. He couldn't spot the rest of their friends anywhere.

"Sazh took Dahj out looking for, and he's also retrieving two guests of honor. Hopefully they're both ready, cause once everyone is here, the real party starts!" Snow sat himself next to Hope.

"What party? I thought a heroes work was never done." Lightning's tone mocked Snow.

Not taken aback by her usual sarcastic demeanor, Snow countered Lightning's words with his own. "Even good guys get to have some fun every now and then, am I right?"

_Wait minute though, where's.._

"Noel?" As if on cue, Noel was answered by the person he had been thinking of.

Serah emerged from her room, clad in the same attire she wore throughout her time traveling journey. Her face was filling with color, a shocking contrast from how Noel last remembered seeing her. She seemed even more lively than she was before.

Everyone smiled, and Snow was the first to say anything. "Hey Serah, your friend is here. You do remember how we greet friends in this house, right?"

Noel was confused by the large man's words, but before he even knew it he was locked in an embrace by the Serah.

_Oww, her grip is almost as strong as Snow's! Is everyone in this time some sort of hugging monster?_

He returned the hug happily. Noel even teared slightly, overjoyed that his partner was still alive. "You're back.."

"Thanks for worrying about me Noel, Kupo!" Mog burst from seemingly nowhere, as his regular cheerful demeanor.

Noel broke the hug and grinned. "Yea, it's great to see you again Mog."

"So anyways, blue boy. Tell us what happened in the final showdown! I wanna hear about it!" Snow laid back in his seat, hungry for details.

Noel also took a seat for himself, and thought to himself. "Well, we confronted Bhunivelze and fought him. We won the fight but just barely. I know I don't really remember much of it. A whole lot feels like its missing." Noel scratched his head in frustration.

_Why is it all so foggy? I should be able to remember it just fine.._

"Hey Hope, Lightning. Do you know know what happened after we won?" The sapphire knight continued to search his mind for the memories, but nothing relevant would surface.

"Now that you mention it, I can't exactly recall much of the fight either." Hope said. "That's weird."

Lightning frowned. "Neither can I. It can't be just a coincidence, can it?"

Hope stood dramatically, catching the attention of the entire room. "I think I have an explanation, but its not exactly the best one. Perhaps after we beat Bhunivelze and the timeline was restored, it affected our memories of the battle? After all, there's no telling what sort of effects nearly resetting the timeline would have. "

"We'll that's not good." Snow sounded disappointed in his tone. "I was hoping I could here about all the ass kicking you guys did! Whatever, I bet you three demolished that guy!"

_Still... It's not just the memory that's missing. Something else feels like its gone too._

Noel was snapped from his thoughts be the roar of an airship overhead. The ship's intercom screeched as it was turned on. "I'd like to thank you all for riding the S.S. Sazh. All passengers must remain seated until the ship has come to a complete stop."

The large vehicle astounded the villagers. Many of the adults shrugged off the ship's presence, but the children stared in awe. Being raised on pulse they were not as accustomed to such sights.

The airship hatch opened, revealing the interior of the aircraft. Noel struggled to see inside the vehicle, and craned his neck in an attempt to get a better view.

The people emerged from the airship. On was clad in blue, and the other in pink. The two almost looked like they could be sisters, if it weren't for the striking difference in their hair colors.

Hope's jaw dropped slightly, completely blown away by what he was seeing. "Vanille... Fang... " The remainder of the group was silent.

Noel gave the two a once-over, sizing them up.

_So these two are Fang and Vanille. They look different than I had imagined._

"Hey there everyone!" Vanille's cheerful voice pierced the silence.

"Been a while, 'asn't it? Nice to see you're all in good health." Fang said cooly.

"Vanille!" Serah ran and hugged the pulsian girl. Vanille smiled. "Hey Serah, it's great to see you alive and well again.

Sazh finally revealed himself, with Dahj in tow. The entire group exchanged greeting, glad to finally all be together again after so much time.

Noel didn't take part in it, not able to shake the feeling of emptiness that ailed him.

_Why am I feeling like this?_

* * *

The bright blue that had earlier painted the sky of New Bodhum now darkened, with the sun saying farewell to the day. In its wake, it set the sky alight in a crimson color that made the ocean glow as if it were burning.

The evening was in full swing. Snow wasn't joking when he said that there would be a party. All of the New Bodhum residents were out and about, having a good time while being treated to some of Lebreau and Serah's first class cooking.

Noel sat somewhat away from the festivities, opting to gaze out into the horizon instead. While he definitely considered everyone a friend of his, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

"Thought I'd find you out here." Hope emerged from the NORA house, with a beverage in one hand, and a plate of food in the other. He had changed out of his armor and into a set of casual clothing. "Come on inside and have some fun. It's not everyday we get to relax like this y'know."

Noel sighed. "Yea I know. Something just doesn't feel right is all." He didn't so much as break his stare into the sunset.

"We'll sitting out here isn't going to make you feel better any time soon you know." Hope teased. "Just think about it." With that, he leave Noel to himself and walked back inside with the rest of the party.

_Maybe he's right. I'm probably just thinking a bit too much._

Resigning himself to a night of fun and festivities Noel stood up, and made way for NORA house. Before entering the building, he spared one last look into the sky, before smiling and joining the others.

_This is the future I wanted to see. One with people in it._

* * *

In the world without time, things remained largely unchanged. Valhalla still was as empty as it had always been, with no life to speak of anywhere in sight. Things were completely the same, on the surface that is.

The tides of the sea of Chaos had receded, and what was once a shoreline now was host to a lush grassland. While there were no fauna inhabiting it, the surge of color brightened up the whole of Valhalla.

Atop the highest building where Etro's throne room was perched, one could see Noel and everyone else enjoying themselves, and having the time of their lives.

Watching the scene from the throne sat a smiling Caius Ballad. Pleased with what he saw, he waved his hand, the scene changing to one entirely different.

He saw a young girl. Her was hair a striking cobalt color. Caius dismissed the scene, finding another of the same child. This time she was older and had grown much. Caius watched the girl's life, as she grew up, fell in love, and even married. He watched on as the girl raised a family, and grew old with her husband.

Finally, he neared the end of her life. He saw her as she lay on her deathbed. The woman's life left her body, and as she passed on, she was smiling.

Caius too, smiled. He wiped a tear from his eye that threatened to fall at any moment. "That was the life you deserved to live." He said to himself. "Finally, you get to understand what it means to live, Yuel."

Satisfied with things, Caius left the throne he sat atop, and walked to the balcony overlooking Valhalla.

_This is the future that everyone deserves. I shall protect if for so long as my lungs draw breathe. That is the duty I swore to carry out when I crafted the future they now inhabit._

The sky of Valhalla was unlike any he had ever seen. What was once dull and bleak now shone with colors from all over the spectrum.

The souls of the dead were not silent. They too enjoyed this, and were comforted knowing that the future was in good hands. Their voices all joined as one, as they semingly sang out in unison.

Caius joined them. Of all voices, his was the most powerful. His godlike form was unlike that of Mwynn or Bhunivelze. I emitted an aura of pure warmth.

The sky glowed brighter, and the light intensified with their voices, like it had been moved by the happiness shared by all of the resting souls.

Caius silenced himself as the song continued on. Atop the balcony his voice reached the edges of Valhalla "The future is bright, and I shall usher in a new, peaceful era worth living in. Your voices shall all be heard, your lives given meaning! This, is the Ballad of an Eternity!"

_**The End**_

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**A/N: Either you'll all really hate this chapter, or you'll all really love this xD. Tell me what you guys all think in a review please! It's been fun while it lasted, and if you liked this story be sure to save it as a favorite. I'll be coming back in the future to edit the chapters and further improve its quality.**


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